The Desert's Rose II
by VampiruLover
Summary: Sequel to Desert Rose. Someone has escaped, and the team needs to find them, and fast! How did they do it? Where are they? Gibbs and the team need to find out before someone ends up dead.
1. Chapter 1

Desert Rose II

AN: For my loyal fans. You asked, I delivered! If you have not read Desert Rose one then this will be a little confusing, I would suggest reading that, very carefully, first.

Ziva's eyes widened as she looked at Gibbs, "He's gone?" Gibbs rubbed a hand down his tired face, looking down at Ziva, her head hovered above his arm, and he grumbled to himself for waking her. Saying nothing he gently guided her head back down wrapping an arm carefully around her waist. She twisted, resting into him, her mind was going a mile a minute. She felt her hair shift as Gibbs lips touched her scalp, she closed her eyes, a small tear escaping.

"No rest for the wicked, yes Gibbs?" Ziva whispered and she felt Gibbs chest rumble behind her in a chuckle.

"Sleep now, kill dirt bags later." Gibbs pulled the covers up higher on the two of them and settled in. Ziva sighed deeply and forced her eyes closed, her body was tense, so she focused on Gibbs breathing behind her, in, out…in, out, Ziva felt her face start to relax, her body and mind were refusing to cooperate, finally her body won out and her mind relented and she fell into a merciful dreamless sleep.

Gibbs however, laid awake, his mind reeling, how did that bastard escape? He had seen Akiva cut off his hand with his own eyes, had it all been a game? He needed answers, he needed coffee, but more importantly, Ziva needed him.

Around six o'clock Gibbs couldn't lie there anymore, he gently extracted himself from Ziva's still resting form, slowly and quietly, he made his way downstairs, he suppressed a laugh when he went to his living room. Tony had fallen off the couch sometime in the middle of the night, and was now laying sprawled out, face down in Gibbs' carpet; the blanket laying haphazardly over his body. Gibbs shook his head and crept past him, into his kitchen to his waiting coffee pot. Gibbs tapped his fingers impatiently waiting for the pot to fill; he looked around his old house, his mind turning. He could not remember a time when every member of team Gibbs had been under his roof at the same time, he found that thought comforting, knowing that each one of them were safe and well out of harm's way. Well, except for one, the new adopted member of team Gibbs was a few states away, he knew it was too early to call and get a SITREP on the situation. He decided instead on rousing his team, so that they could catch the son of a bitch once and for all. He was tired of watching Ziva suffer in the shadow of her father, it was time he ended it. Now.

Gibbs poured a cup of coffee, putting a ridiculous amount of sugar in it and headed back out into the living room, he placed the warm mug on the floor by the sleeping man's nose. Tony stirred and smiled reaching blindly for the mug. He mumbled something close to, "Morning Boss", as Gibbs headed down the stairs to the basement. Unsurprisingly, McGee and Abby had shifted during the night as well, although Abby was still holding Tim, they were lying spooned against each other in the small space of the, still to be finished, boat. Gibbs noted the two empty bowls on his workbench before making his way behind Abby. He bent down talking softly in her ear, "Abby. Your computers on fire." Abby jumped up, just barely missing a cross beam, her sleep filled eyes scanning her surroundings, finally meeting eyes with Gibbs. Abby gave him a sleepy smile and rubbed at her eyes. Gibbs stood heading back up the stairs, "Wake Tim we have work to do." The door shut signaling his absence from the room. Abby smiled then looked back at the man still sleeping next to her. Abby brushed her hand down his cheek, whispering in his ear. "Timmy, Don't be mad, but I think I broke your iPhone." McGee jumped slightly hitting his head on one of the cross beams before turning to look at Abby. She was trying her best not to laugh but she couldn't hold it in as she looked at his fearful face.

"Where's my phone?"

"It's fine, Boss man says we have work to do." McGee groaned and rubbed the, now sore, spot on his head giving Abby a playful glare. She in turn smiled big and pulled herself down from the boat.

Gibbs sat down at his kitchen table with his coffee, Tony shuffled in a few minutes later, looking a little worse for wear, he plopped down in the old chair causing it to creak in protest. After a few moments, Tony looked up into his boss's eyes.

"What's going on Boss?"

Gibbs took a drink from his cup looking down at his hands, "Oren escaped."

"What?" Tony yelped, wincing at his own voice, in the quiet of the morning, "We-we need to find him!"

"You don't think I know that DiNozzo?" Gibbs voice was harsher than he intended, but in his defense, he wasn't in the best of moods either, lack of sleep and coffee taking its toll on the weathered Marine.

Tony looked down at his coffee, officially reprimanded, "What should we do?"

"What we always do DiNozzo, we follow the evidence." Gibbs took the last sip of his first cup of coffee, standing as Abby and Tim made their way into the kitchen, also shuffling their sleep filled bodies. Abby opened Gibbs' fridge pulling out a redbull she had stashed in there a long time ago, it wasn't Caffpow but it would just have to do. McGee lumbered over to the coffee pot waiting for Gibbs to finish, soon enough Gibbs stepped aside allowing McGee access to the black gold. Gibbs took his original seat taking another big gulp.

"All the evidence was taken to NCIS by Henderson's team, everything should be waiting for us when we return, the case is still officially ours. " The team nodded and looked around at each other.

"What about Oren, I mean, I thought Akiva killed him."

Gibbs looked at Tony taking a breath, "She cut off his hand when he aimed a gun at her, she must of thought that when he passed out from blood loss, he would stay that way until he died."

McGee looked over his coffee cup chin resting on his hand, "Or she played us."

End Chapter.

AN: Tell me, did you like Akiva's character? Should she return? Do you like it?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Gibbs looked around at his team, his gut was suspiciously quiet on the issue, Tony and Tim looked between each other not sure where to even start. They needed to get to work, figure this out, Abby took the last sip from her RedBull, she didn't know much about the case, but she was defiantly interested now.

Suddenly, a loud thump and the sound of glass shattering filled their ears, Gibbs looked at the ceiling jumping up from his chair, running up the stairs, quickly tailed by Tony, Tim and Abby. When they reached the landing they heard loud cursing coming from Gibbs room. Gibbs slowly opened the door scanning the room for any threats. The only thing he saw was Ziva sprawled out on the floor by his bed, his lamp shattered on the floor beside her.

"Ziver?" Gibbs slowly made his way over wary of the glass on the floor. He pulled pieces of the ceramic lamp from her hair gently lifting her from the floor. She groaned at the movement, Gibbs lifted her carefully setting her back on the bed. "What happened?"

Ziva growled and took a shallow breath, her lung aching. "I can't walk!" Ziva yelled in desperation wincing as her lung filled with pain from the expulsion of air. Gibbs put a hand on her back rubbing small circles.

"Take a breath." Ziva growled again throwing her hands up in the air, nearly smacking Gibbs face in the process.

"I can't!" Ziva coughed and groaned holding a hand to her chest. Gibbs glared and Ziva huffed, taking in small breaths. Tony, Tim and Abby slowly entered the room keeping their distance but keeping a close eye on their friend. After a few moments Ziva sucked in enough air and calmed her temper. Gibbs kept his hand on her back, waiting for her to speak. "My leg, it just, went off."

"Went out." Tony corrected.

Gibbs looked at him, then back to Ziva as she continued. "We, we have to get him." Ziva went to stand but fell back down when she put weight on her leg, her temper flaring back up she growled and flung herself backwards on the bed, slamming her fists into the mattress. Tony, Tim and Abby raised their eyebrows, as the always in control assassin, threw a temper tantrum. Gibbs rolled his eyes and stood going into his bathroom, there as some rustling as he searched his cabinets.

"You have two options Ziva."

Ziva stopped pounding her fists into his bed for a moment listening to him, "What are they?"

Gibbs emerged holding a wooden cane in one hand and bottle of Ibuprofen in the other. He tossed them on the bed then walked out of the room pushing through the crowd in the doorway. Ziva looked at her options grumbling to herself. Tony smiled to himself following Gibbs downstairs, Tim swiftly followed after him, not wanting to be left alone with a pissed off Ziva. Abby however, nonplused stayed shifting from foot to foot unsure what to say. Ziva looked to her with a defeated expression; Abby pouted her lips going over to Ziva pulling her into a hug. Ziva accepted it gratefully; when they separated she grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen looking it over.

"How many should I take?"

"Two to start, then maybe by the end of the day, two more." Abby smiled retrieving the bottle from her, taking out the dosage. Ziva grabbed them swallowing them down without water grimacing at the taste. Abby gave her a woeful smile then stood extending her hand. Ziva looked at it a moment before accepting the help. She wasn't too happy about being helped, in fact the entire idea of her being less than combat ready infuriated her to no end; she was frustrated with herself and her body. Abby kept a steadying arm around her waist helping Ziva down the stairs.

They came around the corner as Gibbs was giving out orders, "Go home, get changed, we meet in 1 hour." Tony and McGee nodded before going to gathering their shoes. Abby helped Ziva to the couch before following McGee to the basement. Tony looked at Ziva as he sat on the floor pulling his shoes on. She glared at him but said nothing. Tony gave her a small smile, which she did not return.

Soon enough, Tony, McGee and Abby climbed into Abby's car leaving Gibbs and Ziva alone. Gibbs looked at Ziva's exhausted appearance as she stared into space. Gibbs walked to her slowly standing in front of her waiting for her acknowledgement. Ziva looked up at Gibbs. He gave her a small smile and offered his hand. Ziva took it standing up, the pain killer was helping already, she hesitantly put her weight on her leg, when it didn't give, she took a tentative step, then another. She smiled then let go of Gibbs hand walking around his living room.

"Better?"

"Much." Ziva stopped leaning on the couch, although her leg was still slightly sore it was no longer so bad she couldn't stand it, her lungs had also numbed making it easier for her to breathe. She was feeling a lot better, "Can I take a shower?"

"No."

"Gibbs." She whined.

"You can take a bath, come on." Gibbs started towards the stairs, Ziva slowly made her way over to him taking on the first step. Unfortunately, her thigh would not accept such a movement; Gibbs caught her before she fell. Ziva growled in frustration. Gibbs sighed softly at her temper and lifted her up carrying her up the stairs, Ziva cursing and complaining the entire way. Gibbs took her to the master bath and sat her on the toilet, Ziva huffed and crossed her arms. Gibbs retreated back out pulling out clothes from his drawers.

"We can go by your place and pick up some of your things but for now…" Gibbs tossed a NIS t-shirt and sweatpants on the counter, "Wear this."

"Thank you." Gibbs turned on the water then left the fuming Israeli to her bath, closing the door behind him.

Finally alone Ziva took in her surroundings. His bathroom was neat and tidy, grey tile floor, faux marble sink with one toothbrush, razor and bar of soap. Deep blue towels, a bronze colored shower curtain and a deep blue bathmat completed the room. Ziva smiled at the simplicity of it all and started to undress.

She pulled the hospital issued t-shirt over her head slowly, her arms still somewhat sore from being stretched too far, she had no bra, which suited her just fine at the moment. She then stood slowly pulling down the sweatpants the hospital also provided for her, she leaned against the counter looking at the large purple welt across her thigh; it had grown considerably in size during its healing process nearly covering the entire area. She gently ran her fingers over it feeling the warm blood just under the surface. She then proceed in pulling down her underwear, once off, she sat herself back on the toilet lid looking over her body. The chaffing on her wrists was healing nicely only small red spots remained, she leaned back slightly looking down at her stomach, the large gash over her womb did not require stitches but it still hurt whenever she twisted too far, she then turned herself looking over her shoulder in the mirror, the one on her back was deeper but again did not require stitches, she reached over and touched the tips of her fingers to it.

Her mind flashed back years, she could see Akiva standing over her offering a hand, there was rubble around them, the air was filled with dense smoke, her body was smaller, her hands and arms shorter, Akiva grabbed her hand pulling, but she could not remove the childhood Ziva from her position. Akiva looked around coughing, Ziva's body hurt all over, her back was pinned down by something she could not see, her legs were growing hot as the flames lingered closer. Quickly, Akiva left Ziva's field of vision, she could hear movement to her right and felt a weight being lifted off her with a grunt. The barrier now removed, Akiva dragged Ziva from the encroaching flames, Ziva was crying as her body was pulled from the rubble, her back was in searing pain from whatever had landed on her. Akiva once clear enough picked Ziva up. Ziva's head rested on her shoulder as she was carried under the legs from the scene, her body pressed against Akiva's her back exposed to the super heated air.

"Tali? Tali?" Ziva's head whipped around calling out for her sister.

"She's gone my rose, she's gone." Akiva kept running, her tears mixing with Ziva's.

Ziva snapped out of her headspace when the tub started making sucking sounds; she quickly turned off the tap letting the tub right itself. Slowly she stepped in easing her body down, the warm water felt great over her body so dropped herself down to her chin just reeling in the warmth of the moment. She felt embraced all over, the water slowly easing away some of her tensed muscles.

Gibbs heard the water stop running and stepped into the guest bathroom starting his own shower, he knew the water would be cooler than his usual preference but time was of the essence, he stripped down quickly stepping under the water.

After some time and more cursing from Ziva, they made it to her apartment, helping her up the stairs he pulled out his spare key opening the door for her. It was just as she left it just a few days ago. From the front door she could see straight to her bedroom, her door slightly ajar. Gibbs sat himself on the couch and waited as Ziva made her way back. He loved her like a daughter, but he was not venturing into that room for a long time. Ziva looked around her room, it was just as it was when Akiva had returned to her. The bed was rumpled on both sides, her signal jammer sitting on the floor just under the lip of the bed. Ziva shook her head clearing her thoughts as she limped over to her dresser. She needed to focus.

Soon enough the team met up in the elevator all traveling up to the Bullpen Abby stepped out first, followed by Tony, Tim, Ziva and Gibbs. They all made their way to their desks, file folders were stacked on each one, but something else caught their attention. Abby bounced next to the replaced plasma screen, a fairly sized brown UPS package was sitting on the floor, she gently picked it up shaking it gently.

"Abby!" Gibbs took the box from her quickly, before gently setting it on his desk.

"What?" Abby turned leaning on his desk.

"It could have been anything." Gibbs scolded pulling out his pocket knife, he put his ear to the box, hearing nothing, he slowly cut away the tape holding the flaps down. Slowly Gibbs opened the box, what was inside surprised him. Abby impatiently pulled the box open wider, having read the packing label conveniently placed on the side of the box.

"It's from Ohio, probably from Akiva." Abby started pulling out various things, each one labeled with a Post-it note. The team gathered round now, Abby started handing off wrapped gifts to the appropriate team members, who upon receiving, sat down at their desk. Abby pulled out the one with her name on it setting it aside, she frowned.

"There's nothing for you Gibbs." Gibbs opened the box looking in, he saw a velvet box down underneath the packing paper, it wasn't wrapped like the others and it looked rather old, he gently pulled it out, Abby's mouth, "oh-ed" as she set the box aside, picking up her gift.

Tony looked at his gift slightly wary, maybe it was payback for him spying on them, he pulled out a pen and carefully starting to pull away the paper, the shape was very familiar but he just couldn't put his finger on it until he had removed enough brown wrapping paper. Tony's face widened in a large smile before he dropped his pen and started tearing open the rest of the package, it was a DVD, a movie to be exact, one that he hadn't seen before. Black Angel 1 and 2 box set collector's edition, the title stirred something in his mind but he was too excited to give it much thought, quickly he flipped the box set over reading the description.

Abby squealed with joy when she opened a never released album from her favorite band, although the case was in, what she assumed was Hebrew, the words and lyrics were written in English. She jumped for joy looking through the album artwork.

McGee followed Tony's wariness but when no harm came to him, he pulled open the package, a very large evil grin spreading across his face. Quickly, he opened the package pulling out the mini USB Nerf missile launcher, connecting it to his computer. While Tony was basking in the glory of a new movie, McGee installed the software then aimed the little table cannon towards Tony. McGee grinned and hit the space bar effectively hitting Tony in the head with a Nerf missile. Abby laughed loudly, when Tony looked over in shock and McGee was grinning like a 4 year old on Christmas. Tony was about to retaliate when a sniffle caught his attention.

The team, sans Gibbs, turned their attention to Ziva, she was leaning back in her chair with a sad, small, smile on her face, a lone tear traveling its' way down her cheek, her eyes glued to her desk. On her desk in a small glass case, was a perfectly preserved desert rose, the gem stone was large, and its petals abundant. It was held in place by a glass stand inside the box, but it looked extremely delicate, Abby's eyes widened when she saw the stone, never before seeing one so perfectly preserved in its natural state.

"Oh my God Ziva, it's beautiful." Abby whispered still staring at the stone. Ziva nodded and swallowed, pulling her emotions back in.

"Hey! I got a card too." Tony looked at the small piece of paper that had miraculously survived his assault, quickly he picked it up reading it aloud. "Life is not a movie, the hero doesn't always save the girl and real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." There was no signature at the bottom Tony , turned it over but that was all she wrote, so to speak.

McGee looked through his paper also finding a card, "Life is a story, without rough drafts, or reprints, it is as it comes. Hard times are inevitable but misery is optional."

Abby pulled out her card which was tapped on the back of her CD case, she opened it and inside was a picture woman's back, Abby gasped as she looked at the full back tattoo, it was simply gorgeous. She looked back at the card. "Music is a wonderful escape, but the best way to escape from a problem is to solve it."

"Hey Gibbs whats yours say?" Abby turned to the, very quiet, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He looked up at his staring teammates, he sighed and pulled out the piece of paper that was folded around his gift. "Success is measured by what you build out of the bricks that others throw at you." Gibbs set the paper aside looking at the, very familiar, dog tags in his hand, the velvet box held a medal at one point, but now it just held two bloodstained dog tags, he looked them over carefully running his fingers over them.

Abby bounced her way back to Ziva's desk, "What about yours Ziva?"

"No card, just this." Ziva held up a burned DVD in a jewel case, in truth her message was on the glass case of her rose and it read, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

Abby pulled the DVD from Ziva's hand walking over to the new plasma, she pulled the DVD out of its' case and slipped it into the side of the T.V.

The entire team turned up their heads when the video started, at first they thought it was Ziva on stage, but upon closer inspection, it was Akiva, she was holding a violin, a band as her backdrop, her body encased in a long blue dress that flowed with her movements. Her face was about 30 years younger, her eyes, undamaged, stared into the camera with their blue brilliance, she had a small smile on her face as she looked into the crowd, Ziva stood coming around her desk, her mouth slightly open, she stared wide eyed, she thought this video was long destroyed.

"Where is this Ziva?" Abby whispered standing next to her, Tony and McGee at her back, Gibbs pulling up the rear.

"My Bat Mitzvah, almost 20 years ago." Her voice was distant her eyes glued to the screen.

Akiva smiled and closed her eyes pulling the bow along the strings in a low whine, the piano started up a slow melody then suddenly the whole band erupted in a rock beat. Akiva stepped to the microphone pulling the violin from her chin, and she sang, with a beautiful strong voice.

"The child without a name grew up to be the hand  
To watch you, to shield you, or kill on demand  
The choice she'd made she could not comprehend  
Her blood a grim secret they had to command" Akiva put the violin up sawing against the strings.

"She's torn between her honor and the true love of her life  
She prayed for both but was denied." Akiva's voice rang high and clear along the notes. Tony's eyes widened.

"So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed,  
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind?  
So many years have passed, who are the noble and the wise?  
Will all our sins be justified?" Akiva's head lowered her eyes looking at someone in the crowd.

"The curse of his powers tormented my life,  
Obeying the crown was a sinister crime.  
Her soul was tortured by love and by pain,  
She surely would flee, but the oath made her stay." Akiva turned her eyes back to the camera. The music calmed drastically her voice ringing out softly.

"Please forgive me for the sorrow,  
For leaving you in fear,  
For the dreams we had to silence,  
That's all they'll ever be,  
Still I'll be the hand that serves you,  
Though you'll not see that it is me." The music picked back up loudly in a small interlude. Akiva ran her bow quickly across the violin while the music roared.

"So many dreams were broken and so much was sacrificed,  
Was it worth the ones we loved and had to leave behind  
So many years have past, who are the noble and the wise?  
Will all our sins be justified?" Akiva put the violin back up to her chin, playing along to the rest of the song, her eyes closing as she flowed with the music until it calmed, to her violin finally ending.

There was clapping and cheering when she finished, a small brown haired girl ran onto the stage, pulling Akiva into a tight hug, the girl was extremely short and only made it about chest high. Akiva pulled the child into a strong hug and opened her mouth to say something as the video cut out. Just as suddenly the video came back on, but it was in a different time and different place, the camera was not on a tripod like it had been before and swayed with the camera holder's movements. The video was very jumpy but it looked like whoever it was, was running through a house, the house was large, and the camera holder must not have realized the camera was on, when they turned the corner, the sight that met them was horrific.

"Akiva?" The voice was young and scared. But that wasn't what worried them the most, from the angle they could see that a large man was holding down a woman, a man that looked oddly familiar, the man turned around glaring at the child.

"Go away Zivaleh!" The man yelled in forced English. Gibbs face paled, it was Oren, and underneath him struggling on a couch was Akiva, her face was bloody and her dress was torn.

End Chapter.

AN: The original version of that song was written and produced by Within Temptation it is called Hand of Sorrow. I rewrote some of the words and changed a few choruses to fit the story as I needed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

Ziva stepped closer to the screen, wracking her brain, she didn't remember this, she looked at the screen trying to jog her memory. Tony, McGee and Gibbs held their breath, Abby hid her face in Gibbs shoulder. The camera didn't move as the child stayed put, Oren growled and stepped away from Akiva, this caused the child to run the camera jumped as she ran but she wasn't quick enough, the camera skidded to the floor, capturing the entire picture. They could see Oren running after Ziva, she ran him in circles until he caught a hold of her hair. He gripped it tightly pulling her off her feet, Ziva's tiny arms immediately tried to remove the offending hands, she was screaming and crying in Hebrew. They were center screen now as Oren threw Ziva to the ground, everyone winced as her cries were instantly cut off as her tiny face slammed into the hardwood floor; Oren turned her head to the side inspecting his work. Tony's eyes instantly noticed something in the background. Akiva stood on shaky legs, her blue dress was torn up to her hip, a strap hanging off one shoulder, her face was bruised and her nose was bloody, but she had death in her eyes. Oren immediately stood snapping his attention to her.

"You do not touch her! You never touch her!" Akiva roared her accent thick, as she wiped the blood from her nose. Oren just grinned, and licked his lips.

"She is 12 now, a woman, I could have her if I choose." Oren replied smoothly stepping closer to Ziva.

Akiva's nostrils flared as she took another step towards Oren, "Do not you even dare!"

"Your English needs some work Akuziva." Oren bent down gently touching Ziva's hair.

Akiva gritted her teeth, "I said do not touch her!" Akiva closed the distance between them but stopped quickly when Oren produced a knife. She was so close, only two steps, but she was unarmed and he was so close to Ziva.

"You want me to spare her?" Oren touched Ziva's cheek with the back of his hand.

Akiva moved forward slightly but stopped herself, "What do you want?"

"An heir."

Akiva furrowed her eyebrows, she looked down at Ziva, swallowing, then back to Oren. Her face went through emotions in quick succession before setting into place. "Fine."

Oren grinned standing, he put the knife back into his belt, and pushed Akiva back to towards couch, forcing her to turn around, leaving Ziva unconscious on the floor. They were obscured mostly by furniture but it was clear what was taking place. Oren began ripping away Akiva's dress, pulling his pants down in the process, Akiva laid there keeping her eyes on the back of Ziva's head tears slowly escaping her eyes, as Oren grunted above her. The low battery signal flashed in the corner before the video cut out to snow.

Ziva blinked slowly as the video returned to home screen, Abby was softly crying on Gibbs shoulder, Tony and Tim were shell-shocked. Gibbs watched Ziva, she stood unmoving just staring at the screen like a statue. Slowly Ziva shut her eyes, trying to recall that night, but she couldn't; it wasn't there, she could remember her party and nothing else. To her this wasn't real, it couldn't be, Akiva would never leave herself so vulnerable, so unprotected.

"Am I, interrupting, anything?" Ducky came into the bullpen holding something in his hand. Gibbs pulled Abby from his shoulder going over to the old Scotsman.

"Whatcha got Duck?" Ducky looked around before settling on Gibbs. He handed over Akiva's eye patch that she had left down in autopsy when the sniper took his shot.

"Well, this." Ducky pointed to the eye patch. Gibbs looked at it, it was old and worn, he flipped it over looking on the inseam, Gibbs squinted and turned on his desk lamp putting the eye patch under it. When the light hit it, there was an impression like something was between the fabric, Gibbs picked up his knife carefully pulling away the stitching. Unaware of his growing audience, Gibbs pulled the fabric; carefully he pulled out a small metal piece it was shaped funny, like an infinity symbol, he turned the small piece of metal over in his fingers. Suddenly everything clicked in Gibbs head, he pulled the dog tags off his desk flipping the decorative Semper Fi tag over, and there on the back was a similarly shaped space. Quickly, Gibbs removed the tag's silencer then placed the small metal piece into the back, there was a clicking sound, then the dog tag split in two, and inside was a micro SD chip.

"Legacy." Ziva breathed in awe, Gibbs looked up at her then to his audience, he took the small piece of plastic in his fingers carefully handing it to McGee.

"On it." McGee sat down at his desk, pulling open a drawer looking for a converter, finally finding one he slipped the drive into his computer. His mouth fell open in a smile when the files on the drive started opening, he quickly put the information up on the plasma. Gibbs eyes quickly scanned the files, it was filled with pictures, missions, secret gold stores for all the world powers, military and nuclear capabilities for China, Russia, the United States, everything that anyone would ever want to know.

"Take it off McGee." Gibbs' eyes caught Vance coming down the stairs; McGee removed the drive setting it on his desk. They all looked as innocent as possible as the director of NCISI came into their bullpen.

"Got some news for you Gibbs." Vance handed over a file. "Oren escaped the country, flew out on a private jet 8 hours ago."

"Why are we just hearing about this?" Gibbs growled tossing the file on his desk.

"He wasn't on our watch list until 6 hours ago, Interpol spotted him going into Russia, but they lost track of him when he entered the mountains." Gibbs glared, Leon just smiled and handed him a packet of plane tickets. Gibbs looked at the tickets as Vance retreated back to his office, one for each of them, and an extra one to get someone onto a military carrier, they were flying to Ohio first, Gibbs watched Leon's form go across the catwalk, a small smile on his face.

"Gear up! We leave now!" Gibbs team grabbed their gear, leaving Abby and Ducky stunned in the bullpen. Abby turned to Ducky handing him his gift, the old M.E. looked at it in surprise and opened it to reveal a new ornate tea pot.

"She's very observant isn't she?"

"Yep." Abby quipped, holding her new CD to her chest bouncing her way back to her lab. Ducky looked at the dog tags sitting on Gibbs desk, he took the micro drive from McGee's desk placing it back inside, then clicked them shut, then he hid them back inside the old velvet medal case, placing it in Gibbs bottom drawer, he then placed the key back inside the eye patch putting the eye patch into an evidence bag. Yep, no one would be the wiser, the M.E. smiled to his self taking his new teapot down to autopsy.

As the team stood in the elevator Gibbs handed out the plane tickets, Ziva furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are we going to Ohio?"

"We're going to need Akiva on this one."

"Sh-she's alive?" Ziva turned in awe looking at Gibbs, he nodded, she then hit Tony in the chest.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For letting me think she was dead!"

"I-I di-" Smack. Tony rubbed the back of his head. Ziva grinned and turned back around, Akiva was alive!

Ziva could hardly contain herself, on the plane, she drummed her fingers, played with the tray table, looked out the window, honestly she was driving Tony nuts.

"Would you stop?"

Ziva glared at him pulling out a paper clip, Tony instantly shut up and scooted a little bit away from her. Ziva smirked and went back to fidgeting. She was between being happy and hurt, happy that Akiva survived and hurt that her team had neglected to tell her, although when she thought about it, Gibbs did say something about taking her to see her, she had just assumed that she was gone. Ziva couldn't hold Gibbs responsible for the breakdown in communication but she could defiantly make Tony feel miserable for a little while.

When the plane landed they collected their gear heading to the rental car, Ziva took the front seat without argument. Gibbs pulled out his cell phone dialing a number on a piece of paper before handing it to Ziva. She looked at him confused before a familiar voice entered her ear.

"Shalom?"

"Shalom, Vidette."

"Where are you Zivaleh?" Vidette's voice was soft as she spoke, but she could hear the smile on her lips.

Ziva smiled back, "Close, may we come see you?"

"Sure, do you know where?"

"Do you live in the same house I visited when I was a child?"

"Of course, Akiva is here too, she is sleeping now." Ziva's smile grew wider at the mention of Akiva.

"Ok we'll be there shortly."

"Shalom, my dear."

"Shalom." Ziva hung up the phone looking to Gibbs.

"Where now?"

"Take this street until the light, then turn right." Ziva helped guide them through the streets, taking mostly back ways, hoping her mind would not fail her, soon enough they pulled into the drive way of a very nice looking house, it was one story with a two car garage, there was a Jimmy and a Van in the drive way. The team slowly got out of their car approaching the glass door, the inner door was opened and Ziva peered in before knocking softly. Soon enough, Vidette came to the door wiping her hand on a towel, she smiled wide before opening the glass door.

"Welcome, please come in." the team filled in the house, it was well lit and spacious, they walked down the hallway past a kitchen and into a large living room that was filled with scattered children's toys.

"Watch your step. We had a two year old hurricane pass through here." Vidette chuckled, she motioned for them to take a seat, there was plenty of room, Gibbs sat in a recliner on one wall, McGee and Tony taking a spot on the couch on the other and Ziva stood in front of Vidette. The older woman hugged her tightly, kissing her cheeks. She took Ziva's head in her hands looking into her eyes, brown met green and they shared a moment of silent communication.

"Is Akiva here?" Gibbs asked pulling the two women from their silent conversation.

"Yes, but they are asleep."

"They?"

"You ever wake a 2 year old Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs chuckled and nodded his head, "Oh, yea."

Ziva looked at Vidette her eyebrows scrunched, "She has a child?"

Vidette looked at Ziva with a concerned face, then led her down a hallway to a bedroom, she quietly opened the door stepping aside, Ziva peered in, what she saw took her breath away.

End Chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

Akiva lay on her back, a small child resting on her chest, the child was thin but long, and very pale with almost porcelain white skin, she couldn't see the child's face. The child's head was resting on Akiva's right breast as they slept, Akiva's face looked so peaceful, her hand was lying protectively over the child's wild black curls, but she couldn't tell the gender. Ziva, felt her breath hitch in her throat, she had never seen something so beautiful, she felt a smile grace her lips as she stared at the two of them sleeping peacefully.

"How long have they been asleep?" Ziva whispered keeping her eyes locked on them.

Vidette smiled and touched Ziva's shoulder, "About an hour." Vidette gave it a gentle squeeze before going back into the living room. Vidette sat down in a chair close to Gibbs, her face solemn as she looked around at the men before her.

"You are going to take her away again aren't you?"

Gibbs looked at Akiva's mother sadly, and regrettably nodded.

Vidette sighed and looked at her hands, "I always knew it would be like this, I had hoped that it would be different by now, these endless wars, all this hatred, why must it be like this Mr. Gibbs?"

Gibbs reached over and touched one of Vidette's hands hesitantly, he wasn't sure why, but he felt a connection with her, perhaps, this is what his family felt every time he went off to war, all those years ago. He could hardly say his job as an investigator was as dangerous, but he knew the risks. From what he understood of this family, they too knew the risks, first hand. Vidette smiled slightly and looked up into his eyes.

"Akiva was taken from me, when she was born, I gave birth to her on a battle field. In the middle of the American war against Vietnam." Tony and Tim leaned in fascinated by the women's words. Gibbs nodded his head. squeezing her hand gently. "My lover, a marine, was going to help us escape from the war zone that had spilled over into parts of Israel. But, the army took my child from me, they took her far away. Bresal went after them, but he too, never returned." Vidette swallowed and looked at Gibbs, his eyes reflected the same thing she felt, the pain of losing a child. They shared a look of mutual understanding.

Tony leaned his elbows on his knees trying to do the math, Tim on the other hand had already figured it out, and he had a question, "How did you get her back?" His voice was soft and hopefully non intrusive. Vidette, looked over at him with pain filled eyes.

"Who says I have?" Vidette looked down the hallway where Akiva slept and Ziva stood vigil. "That woman in there, she was never a child, war is all she knows, I love her no matter what, but I know that I will never be able to erase that pain that Eli David inflicted on my daughter." Her last few words ground out in a low hiss, her face twisted into hatred. Vidette closed her eyes and took a breath, she relaxed and stood, "Can I get anyone some tea?" Gibbs stood and followed Vidette into the kitchen to help get everyone something to drink.

Ziva had heard the conversation from the doorway, she had never known so much about Akiva, and she hated her father even more now, at least she got to see her mother, be held by her mother, until…Ziva's eyes snapped to the bed, the child on Akiva's chest was moving. With small groaning noises the child shifted pulling the blankets down, the child gently removed their mother's hand from its head before sitting up, with back still to Ziva, she still hadn't figured out if the child was a boy or girl, slowly the child turned their eyes met with Ziva's. Suddenly, Ziva was afraid, she stood still hoping the child wouldn't cry or scream at her intrusion. The child tilted their head to the side, Ziva could clearly see the face now, the child had chin length ebony hair that was twisted with curls, eyes shaped like almonds and a color that intrigued Ziva, they were a color she had never seen anyone have before, they were light in color, a gold hue, with a light brown outline, they looked like they could see through anything or anyone. The child examined Ziva as well, just staring at her, its little brain clicking away, slowly the child climbed out of the bed walking over to Ziva, they stood about a foot apart. Even at two years old the child was tall, the top of the child's head reaching Ziva's hip bone. Ziva stood there unsure of what to do; she looked down at the child with consternation. The child tipped its head back looking up then a wide smile grew on their face.

"Mini mommy!" The child shrieked in laughter before hugging Ziva around her legs. Vidette came around the corner of the hallway with a tray of drinks.

"Kari, come dear, snack." The child quickly let go of Ziva rushing past her to get a snack. Ziva turned and watched the child bounce around completely happy, suddenly Ziva felt a presence she stood still, slowly turning her face up to meet Akiva's. Damn, she's good, Ziva thought.

"Mini mommy?"

Ziva shook her head laughing. "Do not ask me."

Akiva grinned and pushed Ziva gently into the living room. Tony and Tim were busy trying to keep the child from taking their sandwich wedges, Vidette was trying to assure the child that they were all the same size, and Gibbs was leaning back in his chair trying to hold in his laughter. Akiva looked over the top of Ziva's head at her child's antics, a small frown on her face.

"Hikari." Akiva's voice was low and the child stopped immediately trying to grab Tony's sandwich. Akiva pointed to the ground beside her. Hikari slowly made it over to her mother, the room suddenly silent. Akiva turned and looked down at the child. Hikari looked at the floor wringing her hands. Akiva bent down and placed her arms under her armpits, making sure not to lift her shoulders, then stood setting Hikari on her hip, the child still did not make eye contact, her lips held in a firm pout. Akiva put her finger under the child's chin a small smile growing on her face, she pointed to Ziva.

"Who is that?"

The child immediately relaxed, bouncing in Akiva's grip, "Dat's Mini Mommy!"

Ziva looked at the two of them in shock, opening and closing her mouth. Tony laughed heartily, Tim grinned with a raised eyebrow and Gibbs was trying to picture Ziva as a mother.

Hikari shifted in Akiva's grip causing her to wince, she let the child back down, as soon as her little feet touched the floor she was off, Vidette offered her a sandwich wedge, that was supposed to be hers, the 2 year old took it and plopped down in a pile of toys.

Ziva turned around glaring at Tony, "Do not say a word or I'll-"

"Kill me with your paper clip?" Tony was still snorting in laughter, Akiva made quick work of the space between them and leaned in close, a hand on either side of him trapping him; she looked him right in the eyes. She gave him a glare and he instantly shut up, her mere size was intimidating enough, but he had seen was she would do to protect Ziva, and he was going to make sure that he, NEVER, crossed the line with her. Akiva gave a tight smile and stood walking over to her child, she sat down carefully watching Hikari build something with Legos.

Ziva finally regained her composer looking from Akiva to Hikari; they had similar features for sure, but Hikari's eyes looked different somehow, maybe Asian, in shape? Ziva stepped over the chaos of toys, Tony, Tim and Gibbs were in a pleasant conversation with Vidette as they tried to explain just exactly why they were here. Ziva came to rest close to Akiva, she had so many questions and they needed to talk in private, she didn't want to be rude, so she did the only thing she could think of. She used their code.

"Where were you?"

Akiva looked up from her daughter, "Ask anything."

The two of them made their way back to Akiva's room, Vidette watched them go but said nothing.

"How old is Hikari?" Ziva asked as soon as the door was shut behind them, immediately switching to Hebrew.

"Almost two, in another month she will be." Akiva replied in Hebrew.

"That was why-"

"Yes."

"And you did what you could and-"

"Yes."

"How did you know?"

"Connections."

"You were so far along and-"

"Yes."

Ziva quickly did the math in her head, two years ago around this time she was in Somalia, Ziva looked into Akiva's eyes her mouth moving with words she could not find. That was why she couldn't come to her, Akiva was pregnant, possibly giving birth on the day Gibbs rescued her. They stood there for a moment just feeling each other's presence, Akiva eyes never leaving Ziva's.

"Where is the father?" Ziva felt her chest compress in pain, something she had felt before, something she could not name.

"Dead."

Ziva's heart relaxed slightly, a feeling of relief pouring over her, she couldn't explain why, but she felt at ease again.

"Who?"

"Japanese, Yakuza, I was undercover, they were supposedly getting involved in diamond smuggling." Ziva nodded her head, then closed her eyes in pain, the ibuprofen was wearing off, her leg was starting to pulse from overuse. Akiva quickly went to Ziva looking her over for the source of pain.

"My leg, I just need to, sit down." Akiva lead Ziva back out into the living room as there was nothing but a toddler bed to sit on in the room they were currently in. Ziva tried her best not to limp to the chair but Gibbs immediately saw the change in her posture, and pulled out a bottle of pills handing it to Akiva. Akiva read the title and smirked.

"Finally listening to someone besides the voices in your head?" Ziva glared and started rubbing at her thigh.

"You may eat them like candy but I will not." Ziva snapped back, taking two pills from Akiva. Akiva just smirked and handed the bottle back to Gibbs. Before putting the bottle back in his pocket however, he took two more out offering them to Akiva. He had observed that she kept her arms at her side, only bending them at the elbow, and when she had winced putting Hikari down. Her shoulders had been dislocated and relocated; he couldn't imagine how painful that would be. Akiva smiled a thanks and popped the pills into her mouth. Ziva grumbled doing the same. Gibbs stood next to Akiva, whispering something in her ear. Akiva nodded and closed her eyes for a moment.

"We need to get going mother." Akiva said looking to her daughter on the floor. Tony, Tim and Gibbs headed down the hallway towards the door, all thanking her for the drinks and sandwiches. Ziva stayed behind Akiva.

"Why must you go Akiva?" Her mother pleaded.

"It is something that I have to do." Akiva stood straighter, glaring down at her mother.

"What about Kari?" Vidette pushed, pointing to the child playing clueless on the floor.

Akiva looked from Hikari, to her mother, "I will never be a good mother anyway." Her voice was soft and a whisper as she turned on her heel, leaving her mother pain stricken, Ziva followed quickly after her. The front door shut quietly as Vidette looked down at Hikari, a lone tear falling down the old mothers face.

End Chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5.

They climbed into the car and drove away. Tony happy at the leg space of the front seat, leaned the seat back squishing McGee in the process.

"Tony!" McGee whined, pushing on the seat. Gibbs grumbled and was about to smack Tony's head when someone beat him to it. Tony yelped and looked into the back seat, Akiva had her arm around Ziva's waist, her other suspiciously in her lap. Akiva grinned at him trying to look as innocent as possible. Tony looked over to his boss, he wasn't safe, he tilted the seat back up giving McGee more room. McGee looked over to Akiva who gave him a wink. He smiled and mouthed, "Thank you."

"McGee. Get in that pocket and grab our IDs were going to Wright Patt." McGee pulled out the folder from behind Tony's seat. He pulled them out handing them off to, Tony, Gibbs, Ziva, his, and… he looked over the NCIS badge, the photo was old but it was defiantly Akiva. Akiva wordlessly grabbed the badge from McGee. He looked at her his bottom lip stuck out as his mind turned.

"How did you?"

"I am rather old McGee." She mused looking over her old picture, she had only stayed at NCIS for a short while during a joint investigation between the US and Israel, the director of the time had given her a full access pass for saving his sorry ass. She guessed that it never got voided, probably hidden away in some box in the file room somewhere. This was way before things were computer filed so the new director probably didn't even think to look in the old file warehouse. She was surprised that he found it though, probably called the old director up himself, after having to speak with the present over the Legacy file. She grinned to herself, they defiantly were thorough.

Tony turned around looking at Akiva, "Just how old are you?"

"Ten years older than Ziva." She smirked dancing around the issue.

"Ziva how old are you?"

Ziva grinned, "Ten years younger than Akiva."

Tony grumbled and turned around in his seat. Gibbs felt a little sorry for him, but kept quiet, Akiva was defiantly a better sparring partner for him than Ziva; she had the calm temperament that could make an argument go on for days. Gibbs suddenly frowned, days…

Gibbs turned the car towards the front gate of Wright Patterson Air force Base. They showed their IDs and drove to the outgoing mission's air field. They pulled into the hanger where they were met by a very important looking Colonel.

"Welcome to Wright Patt. Agents. Your equipment and fatigues are in the locker room to your right, get changed then we'll go over the flight plans." The Colonel walked off, Gibbs pointed to the locker room and everyone made their way in.

"Aren't there any woman rooms?" Ziva whined looking at the equipment laid out with a name tag over each uniform.

"What? Don't want me to see you naked?" Tony grinned going to his stuff.

"No, I do not want see, you, naked." Ziva made a face, causing Tony to laugh. Akvia rolled her eyes and stepped in between them.

"There now all you'll see is me." Ziva grinned and rolled her eyes. Gibbs took his place next to Akiva pulling off his jacket. The team started to disrobe, quickly changing into their combat fatigues, Tony for the most part kept his head turned the other way. Akiva zipped up her jacket looking over her new outfit, she nodded in approval before going over to the table with the weapons. She looked over the assortment and grabbed a silenced M9 and P90. She looked at the P90 smiling slightly to herself, light, laser, and night vision scope. She nodded approving of the attachments before grabbing the combat knife her face falling into a small frown.

"One knife for each of us?"

Gibbs grabbed another M9 and a G11 looking through the scope, "What would you prefer? A box of paper clips?" Akiva snorted a laugh and shook her head, Ziva grabbed the same guns Akiva did, making sure she had the silencers properly equipped. Tony looked at the remaining weapons, he grabbed the silenced M9 then looked at the assault rifles, he wasn't too sure which one to choose, his macho self would have chosen the biggest one, but his logical self told him he needed something he could manage. Akiva slid an AUG at him, he looked at the funny shaped weapon then picked it up, with a small frown. Akiva gave him a look, and he shouldered the weapon. McGee was the last to change still slightly unsure about all the camouflage, this was his second, in the line of fire mission and he was starting to get nervous.

"Uh, boss?" McGee asked, having issues with his belt, trying to figure out how to move the holster to the left side. Gibbs wordlessly took the belt from McGee flipping the clip on the holster then sliding it back on the belt. "Uh, thanks." McGee quickly fastened it around him joining his team at the weapons table. He picked up the M9 looking at the silencer before putting it in its holster. He then looked nervously at the other weapons on the table. Gibbs grabbed an UZI handing it to him. McGee frowned at the small weapon but said nothing.

"Just think of it as a Wii Zapper McGee." Akiva smirked turning to leave the locker room.

"Uh, right, thanks." McGee put the weapon strap over his shoulder and followed Gibbs and the rest of the team out.

The Colonel who had met them at their car was waiting patiently as they exited, he pointed to a small room to his left and they followed, each taking a seat in one of the chairs. It was a briefing room, two pilots were sitting at the front of the room looking bored.

"Welcome, here we will be briefing you on your objectives, I have been ordered by the SecNav to inform you that if you are captured and detained in anyway, that you will not be rescued. This a full black op., get in, get out, normally we would be sending in the navy seals on this one but, your director pulled some strings." Akiva smirked and leaned back in her chair. Pulled some strings, right, she had more strings then that man had in his entire suit.

"You will be flying over North Korea, the target is suspected to be hiding out in Russia's deserted mountains, you will be dropping down here," the man pointed to a place a few clicks above the North Korean border, " And you will be picked up here." The man pointed to the coast between Japan and Russia.

"You will have 10 days to contact for pickup after that the USS Finch will no longer be close enough for evac. You will be fitted with the latest in electronic GPS and tracking software however, to avoid detection do not turn on your tracking devices until you want to be picked up, if you are not within 5 miles of the coast you will not be picked up, am I clear?" Everyone looked at him with bored expressions and nodded.

"Good, you will be flying out on a personnel carrier, you will then parachute down into the forest, from there, you are on your own. This will not be a halo jump, your pilot will fly low enough for a safe landing, however, be prepared for anything when you reach the ground. This is still hostile territory a lot of Russian militia men still occupy this area so be on your guard, and do not leave anything behind. Any questions?"

"Just one, what happens if one of us, you know, doesn't make it?" Tony asked, slightly nervous now.

"Dispose of the body and leave no evidence, if any of this gets into the global community it could spell disaster for any negotiations between the U.S. and Russia."

Tony looked to Gibbs his eyes opened wide, Gibbs folded his arms over his chest, the muscle in his jaw twitching.

"Now, if there is nothing else, choose one of you responsible for the electronic equipment then follow your pilots to your plane. Good luck." The Colonel dipped his head and exited the room. Everyone looked to McGee, who sighed in relief and grabbed the equipment on the table putting it into the many pockets on his jacket. The pilots stood up going to Akiva, one extended a hand to her which she hesitantly took.

"I take it your in charge here?"

"No, sorry, I may have grey hair but he," She let go of the pilot's hand motioning to Gibbs, "is in charge."

Gibbs took the ashamed pilot's offered hand.

"Good to meet you sir, my name is Johnson, and this is Baley, we will be your crew for this mission. Please follow us." Gibbs smirked looking over to Akiva who simply shrugged, wincing slightly.

The plane was a small personnel carrier similar to the one they flew to Israel on. The team climbed in, taking the backpacks that covered the seats putting them on before hooking themselves up to the harnesses. Akiva and Ziva sat next to each other, while Gibbs, McGee and Tony sat opposite them. The tail folded up, encasing them in the cabin's low lighting, they heard the pilots get into their seats, doing their flight check, soon the plane hummed into action. A few jerking moments later the plane got onto the runway, a quick thrust later and they were in the air. After a few minutes the pilots signaled the all clear and the team removed the harnesses so they could sit comfortably.

"It's gonna be a long ride, get comfortable." Gibbs said stretching out on the seat laying his head down on his pack. McGee moved to the floor of the plane opening mission files and started programming the GPS. Tony just leaned back and stared at Akiva, his mind turning, a small smirk appearing on his face.

Akiva looked back at him with disinterest. She leaned close whispering something into Ziva's ear, Ziva nodded and stretched herself out putting her pack on the floor, she laid her head in Akiva's lap, gently easing her injured leg out straight. Akiva stroked her hair, causing Ziva to close her eyes and relax, her head turning away from Tony nuzzling into Akiva's solid stomach. Akiva absently land a hand over Ziva's shoulders, holding her in place; so if the plan jarred, she wouldn't fall. Tony looked on his brain still clicking away.

"Something you need to say Agent DiNozzo?"

"What happened to your eyes? In one picture they're brown in another they're blue. Contacts?" Tony recalled the video of Akiva singing and how both her eyes were a beautiful blue, but when they pulled up her photo from her case file her exposed eye was brown.

"Not exactly. When I was a younger, I was put through the Les Enfant Terrables project, it was a genetic experiment to create better soldiers. The whole nature vs. nurture argument, while I was supposed to be on the side of nurture; some scientists still wanted to experiment with things like vision, hearing and muscle growth. So they injected me with drugs, my original eye color was blue, they managed to change it to brown for a short while, but ultimately they turned back."

"Why change your eye color?" Tony leaned back in awe, he thought his childhood was rough. McGee looked over to Akiva, also hearing her story, a sad look on his face.

"People with lighter colored eyes have trouble with variances in light, and can often be easily blinded on the battlefield, whereas darker colored eyes absorb the light away from the pupil making it easier to see." Akiva however, told the story as if she were reading off a mission briefing, her eyes reflected no emotion at the memory.

"So what else did they do? I mean, if you want to, you know…" Tony was both curious and afraid of what would come out of Akiva's mouth. He felt his heart ache for a woman whom he barely new and only just recently met.

Akiva let out a small sigh absentmindedly playing with Ziva's hair, she by now was already fast asleep her breath calm and even. Akiva looked off into the distance remembering what she could about the men in the white coats. "They tried increasing my muscle mass by putting me on a strict diet and workout schedule, I was often left alone with no psychical contact for hours, receiving my meals through a door, they wanted me to be as cold and emotionless as the cell they kept me in. But eventually the project was scrapped and I was put into Mossad at the age of 10, I had my first kill and then," Akiva smiled slightly, "Ziva was born, and I was given a new mission."

"So you trained Ziva to be a killer?"

"Yes, in a way." Akiva's jaw was tight as her mind flittered in and out of the past.

Tony's mouth went in a thin line, his eyes narrowed, "In what way, either you did or you didn't." He snapped a little harsher than he intended. Akiva's eyes snapped to his.

"In our country, when you get orders, you follow them." Her words came out almost too quietly to be heard, her mouth barely moving.

"What did Ziva go through?" Tony wasn't sure why, but he had to know, he had seen how she was when she first came to NCIS and how she was when they rescued her from her Father. How dead inside she looked, how distant.

"My job was simple, keep her alive, and train her to fight, to kill." Akiva's eyes glazed over as she looked at the ceiling of the carrier. "I was presented to Eli by Oren, right after Ziva was born, they made a pact, they would let my mother come to America as long as I stayed and trained Ziva. I had only met my mother twice by that time, but I knew that she would never survive the battle torn world I lived in, so I agreed. Ziva was placed in my care, I started with languages, a child's mind is easily susceptible to languages at an early age so it was easy for her to pick up. When she was 6 I started teaching her combat techniques. She was a fast learner, her father oversaw most of our interactions; sometimes I would be away on missions, so her father took over her training. When I returned I could always see a difference in her, she was colder, harsher then when I left her. Slowly, she changed from an innocent child into a ruthless killer. But I could always see that gentle part of her hiding just below the surface, it was from her mother. When Eli was at work, sometimes, her mother would ask me to stop so they could spend time together, I agreed. I didn't want Ziva to be like me, without a mother, her father was as cold as I was and I didn't want to Ziva turned into some kind of monster." Akiva's face twisted.

"You think you're a monster?" Tony asked trying to take it all in.

"What else am I?" Akiva sighed looking down at the sleeping woman in her lap.

"But you care for her, monsters don't have feelings, they just kill." Tony offered.

"I suppose…" Akiva kept her eyes on Ziva. She was groaning in her sleep, her face had a thin layer of sweat, her eyes moving back and forth as she dreamed.

"Did you have any happy times?"

"Oh sure, we had moments, like the time Ziva got stuck in a tree." A small smile graced Akiva's lips.

"Do tell." Tony raised an eyebrow a smile gracing his features.

"Well, she didn't want to train with her father, I had just returned from a mission, I had been wounded slightly, she ran out of the house, climbing the tallest tree she could find refusing to come down until she saw me. She kept asking for me wanting to know if I was ok. Her father refused to tell her anything and just kept yelling at her to get down from the tree. Ari refused to climb the tree finding the situation all too hilarious. By the time I found out, it was dark and Ziva still hadn't come down from the tree, she was scared and the tree was bending in the desert wind making her rock back and forth. Eli had long since given up and gone inside leaving her in the tree. I got a phone call from Ziva's mother requesting that I come over immediately. She was only 7, but as much as I tried I couldn't coax her out of the tree she was too afraid. So, I climbed up after her." Akiva paused as she felt Ziva shift, turning onto her side her arms curling into her body, her breath warm against Akiva's cloth covered stomach.

"How did you get her down?"

"Well, by now it was pitch black out, and she was so afraid to move that we just stayed up there all night. Her father was furious that she had wasted a whole days training, but we couldn't care less, we stayed up there until dawn just looking at the street lights over the city." Akiva smiled at the memory her eyes shining slightly. "Oh! There was this one time, it involved a lot of butter."

"Really?" Tony's interest peeked he leaned forward, an evil smile gracing his features, he was excited about getting to know his partner without having to actually be threatened within an inch of his life.

"Well, you see, Eli had these gorgeous hardwood floors."

End Chapter.

AN: I need your help! Give me questions you think Tony or McGee would ask Akiva, whether about herself or Ziva. If I can make them work they'll be in the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Firstly, thank you for the questions, ChEmMIE and BeautifulDisaster123 they were great questions. So great I didn't think they fit perfectly with this chapter, but they are in my notes and will defiantly be added later. THANKS again, and please Review, if you have questions or concerns about the story.

Chapter 6.

As Akiva started the story, McGee and even Gibbs sat in rapt attention including DiNozzo who was practically drooling over the new information. Akiva was home with Ziva, Ziva's mother had taken Tali out to a friend's house so she could play with children her age and not get in the way. During one of their breaks Akiva let Ziva turn on the Olympics, they were showing the ice skating competition; Ziva had always been fascinated by ice skating, but living in a desert she had never had the opportunity to try such an event. Akiva was in the kitchen fixing them something to eat when Ziva appeared by her side.

"I want to go Ice skating." She whined in Hebrew pulling on Akiva's shirt. Akiva bent down to the girl's level and tried to explain why it was not possible in Israel, when she knocked over the butter dish, it clattered to the ground, sliding effortlessly across the hardwood floors. Akiva paled when the little 5 year old Ziva got a gleam in her eye as she watched the butter slide across the floor.

"Oh, no." Akiva told the little girl.

"Oh, yes!" she squealed taking the butter in her hands, she removed her socks and dropped more of it on the floor, then took a small run, sliding over the warm hardwood floor. Akiva could not stop her now; Ziva was laughing loudly grabbing more butter from the large container she had pulled from the counter. Akiva watched in amazement as the spotless floors became a butter filled Ice rink. Akiva shrugged and decided that they could always clean up later and joined Ziva in her endeavor; she pulled her socks off, grabbing more butter and going to the long entrance hallway. Together they covered the entire floor, slipping and sliding their way into a good time. They slipped and slid covering themselves in the food, laughing loudly the entire time. That was, until they heard an older voice clearing their throat. Akiva looked over to the front door in fear. Ziva's mother stood there with a small bag of fruit, Akiva stopped in place but didn't have time to stop Ziva as her little feet pounded then slid towards the unsuspecting woman. Ziva fell to her butt in front of her mother looking up sheepishly a small fearful grin appearing on her face. The woman tried to keep a stern face but couldn't and ended up laughing at the two of them; she checked her watch and then looked down at the two very messy children in front of her.

"Into the bath both of you, Eli will be home in an hour." Akiva carefully made her way to Ziva pulling her up the stairs leaving little butter footprints on the rug.

Akiva smiled and paused in her story looking down at Ziva who shifted back onto her back.

"Did you get caught?" McGee asked holding back a laugh.

"No, her mother had it all cleaned by the time he got home, the only evidence was a small Ziva footprint on the rug that we missed, luckily for us, he did too." Akiva rolled her shoulders trying to get some of the pain to dissipate, the ibuprofen was doing wonders for her, she could hardly feel the muscle strain, her chest wound did not bother her at all, it was only sore when someone touched it, she remembered reading somewhere that the lungs are the fastest healing tissue in the body. She was lucky that the bullet didn't crack any ribs otherwise Gibbs might have made her sit this mission out. On the other hand, he knew what it was like to want revenge for something, maybe he wouldn't have. Akiva was more concerned with Ziva's injuries. She had always been a fast healer but her refusal of pain medication always made her a bit sluggish in the field.

"Have you two ever got into a fight? I mean you know not like training or anything but has she ever been really pissed at you?" Tony flashed back to all the times Ziva threatened his life with various office supplies.

"Once. When Tali died." Akiva's smile fell from her face, her eyes moving around looking at things only she could see. Tony leaned back watching her face rise in fall with emotions, her mouth moving with no words passing her lips.

"What happened?" Whispered McGee.

"I, uh, we-we went to the mall, it was close to Ziva's birthday, Tali wanted to buy her something special, so Ziva was hanging out at the food square-"

"Quart." Tony corrected automatically.

"Quart. Tali and I went to a store down one end of the mall. When these suicide bombers detonated, destroying half of the mall, Tali had been in one of the stores, right next to one of the men." Akiva looked down at Ziva who was still sleeping peacefully, and cupped her hands over her ears. "I watched in slow motion as the man pulled the trigger, Tali-she was right next to him holding up a sweater she wanted to get Ziva, it was this beautiful shade of green…" Akiva's mind wondered back to that day she could see the mall, Tali was moving around excitedly looking at the clothes, Akiva could feel something wasn't right she had stepped out of the store to take in her surroundings, Akiva felt an immense cold sweep through her, she watched a man enter the clothing store, and watched in slow motion as Tali happily held up the sweater she was going to buy Ziva, Akiva's feet couldn't move as she watched the man pull out the trigger, she opened her mouth to scream…"and then…she was gone."

Tony felt a tear fall down his face; McGee sniffled a little wiping his eyes and Gibbs mouth twitched as he held his emotions down. Akiva removed her hands, her eyes were hooded but remained dry.

"Ziva was trapped under a sign when I found her, I managed to pull her to safety but she hated me for not saving Tali. Tali was like an angel, she had her mother's peacefulness about her, she wanted nothing to do with Mossad or war. Ziva refused to speak or even see me for almost a year, she closed herself down. Her father finally beat her into submission, and we resumed training."

"Did she ever forgive you?" McGee whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

"I don't know." Akiva looked down at Ziva; her face was contorted in pain as she slept, her injured leg twitching. Akiva furrowed her eyebrows looking over Ziva's body, slowly she moved her hand over Ziva's injured leg, she could feel the heat through Ziva's pants without even touching her. Akiva shifted slightly, pressing her hand gently over the bruise. Ziva's eyes shot open and she cried out. Tony, Gibbs and McGee jumped at the sudden outburst, but Akiva held her steady.

"Agh! Why did you do that?" Ziva yelled through her teeth, she slammed her head into Akiva's lap, her mouth pulled tight in a grimace. Akiva rolled her eyes and leaned over starting to unbuckle Ziva's pants, Ziva immediately tried to stop her, holding Akiva's hands in a death grip.

"If you value your hands, I suggest that you. Let. GO!" Ziva growled. Akiva grabbed both of Ziva's hands in hers, continuing to unbuckle and unbutton her pants.

"Do you want it to stop?" Akiva responded unimpressed. Ziva growled and struggled in Akiva's grasp.

"Stop! It hurts!"

"Tony, I need your help." Akiva looked over to Tony who looked back at her like she was crazy.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Pull down her pants, her leg should not be hurting her this much." Tony looked from Akiva to Ziva, not sure which one he should be more afraid of.

"I don't know…" Tony stayed put watching Akiva struggle with Ziva. Gibbs rolled his eyes and went to Ziva's feet. Akiva gave him a thankful look.

"Don't you dare Gibbs!" Ziva kicked out with her uninjured leg, jarring herself causing more pain to shoot through her body. Gibbs carefully put his leg over her uninjured foot keeping it in place, his hands slowly going to her hips. Ziva arched trying to pull herself free, which in hind sight probably wasn't her smartest move as Gibbs took it to his advantage pulling her pants down to her knees. Akiva's eyes snapped to the large bruise on Ziva's leg, it was swollen and blood red.

"She has a blood blister, McGee look in the medical kit for a lung deflator." McGee scrambled to his feet opening one of the packs. McGee found the small needle like device going over to Akiva. She offered him Ziva's hands in exchange for the device. McGee tried his best to keep Ziva's hands in his grasp, without causing her more pain. Akiva leaned over Ziva effectively squishing her head into her stomach, Ziva growled and bit down.

"Ow!" Akiva jumped slightly before sticking the needle into Ziva's leg, the blood quickly started flowing out of the needle and onto the deck of the plane. McGee turned his head to keep from getting sick. After a few moments, Ziva stopped struggling, a sigh of relief coming from her. Gibbs let her feet go and motioned for McGee to release her hands. Akiva sighed and waited for the blood to finish flowing; soon enough, the blood turned into a clear puss and she removed the needle.

"Was that so hard?" Akiva sat up looking down at Ziva's less than pleased face. Ziva cursed at Akiva in Hebrew. Gibbs chuckled and made his way back to his bench.

"I hate you!" Ziva turned her head to Gibbs, who just shrugged and looked on with an amused face. Akvia leaned back pulling up her shirt to examine the damage.

"Did you really have to bite me?" Ziva gave her a dirty look and sat up, she looked down at the now deflated blood blister, she raised an eyebrow gently poking the area. It didn't hurt anymore, or at least not to the touch, Ziva flexed her leg out, yep, still sore but defiantly usable. She stood putting her weight on it, quickly pulling her pants back up. Tony tried to look away but he just couldn't and what was worse he couldn't stop his mouth.

"Nice undies Ziva." Tony's smirk left his mouth when she punched him in the shoulder. Akiva just shook her head resting it in her hand. Ziva turned on McGee waiting for him to say something stupid. He held up his hands in surrender.

"I didn't look I swear." Ziva narrowed her eyes at him slowly advancing, but Akiva stood blocking her path, her shirt still held up revealing a nice impression of Ziva's teeth. With McGee fully blocked from her view by Akiva, she looked down at her handy work. Ziva smirked and patted the spot with her hand.

"You've gained some weight." Ziva smirked. Akiva glared down at her, pulling her shirt back down, Akiva grabbed Ziva's upper arm leading her back to the bench seat. They had a hushed conversation in Hebrew before Ziva threw up her hands in defeat.

Tony watched the exchange between the two women his mind quickly whirling, he remembered back at the stake out when he needed to retrieve the equipment, that smell he smelled, his mouth slowly started its upward assent. Oh yes, he was going to ask, he just needed to make sure the time was right. He knew he wouldn't get a straight answer out of Ziva but Akiva seemed more than welcome to share information. He could use that to his advantage; he leaned back folding his arms continuing to watch their interactions.

Akiva put her hand behind Ziva's neck pushing down slightly; Ziva's face went slack, her eyes hooded. Akiva smirked as her body went from tense, to liquid. Ziva tried her best to glare at her, but she couldn't as her body responded to the pressure point. Ziva pushed weakly on Akiva's arm trying to make her let go but she couldn't find the energy. Akiva waited a few more seconds until Ziva's body completely relaxed and fell into hers; Ziva was still awake but nowhere as pissed, or tense as she had been moments ago.

"I hate when you do that." Ziva mumbled curling into Akiva her head resting on her shoulder. Akiva just grinned and patted the top of Ziva's head.

"How did you do that?"

Akiva looked over to Tony a small smirk on her face, "Pressure point." She grinned an evil playful grin, showing him her perfectly straight teeth. Tony made a mental note to ask her how to do that, should he ever need to defend himself against Ziva.

Ziva watched her team mates lazily as they sat in a few moments of silence, McGee had gone back to programming their equipment, Gibbs was idly reading over a case file and Tony was staring at them, Ziva furrowed her eyebrows.

"What?" Ziva grumbled.

"Oh, nothing." Tony sing songed looking for something to distract himself. Akiva pulled out an iPod nano from her jacket pocket, she scrolled for a few minutes before handing it off to Ziva. Ziva thanked her and put the headphones in her ears laying back down. She rested her head back on Akiva's lap her foot tapping to the beat. Akiva looked over to Gibbs, who was now staring at her, a look of anger ever so slightly gracing his features.

"Why did you lie to me?" Gibbs voice was gruff as he tossed the mission file to the side.

"I did not lie, I simply do not answer unasked questions Gibbs. To assume is to make an ass out of you and me."Akiva stared at him making sure he understood, "Now, do you have any questions?"

Gibbs growled before controlling his anger. "You know where he is hiding."

"Yes."

"You know how to get there, you set up this mission."

"Yes."

"Then why bring us?" Gibbs temper was teetering on the edge.

"Would you have let Ziva go alone?." Akiva leveled her eyes at Gibbs. Ziva turned looking up, she pulled one ear phone out of her ear, she had felt Akiva's legs tense and was curious as to what was going on.

"No."

"You have answered your own question."

Gibbs grit his teeth. Akiva looked down at Ziva then to Gibbs. Gibbs let out a breath, looking from Akiva to Ziva. Ziva looked up at Akiva her eyes wide as she looked between her and Gibbs. She defiantly missed something. Akiva put a hand on Ziva's head gently brushing some stray hairs out of her face, Ziva took it as a sign that everything was ok and put her ear phone back in.

Gibbs settled back in for the long 24 hour flight, he was tired; it was going into the evening in Washington even though the sky out the window shone a bright blue. Tony had since laid down his eyes blinking slowly as he fought sleep. McGee had decided to rest his eyes for just a minute before he fell asleep on the plane deck. Gibbs kept an eye on Akiva trying to read her, he still couldn't figure her out, she had defiantly proven herself worthy of Ziva's trust but he wasn't so easy to convince. Ziva had fallen back asleep listening to whatever was on the iPod. Akiva, still sitting, leaned her head back on her pack her eyes closed, one arm in her lap the other gently resting on Ziva's head.

Tony couldn't figure them out. When Ziva was by herself, she's independent, loud, never wants to take orders. But when Akiva's around she's quiet, reserved, and lets Akiva take the lead, hell he's never seen her be touched so much before. Usually it's a three foot radiance with her, well unless you're Abby, in which case no one gets personal space. But Akiva just waltz's right in and out of her personal space, touching, whispering... completely unnoticed. Even when Ziva did flare up, Akiva kept her calm, instead of getting angry or yelling she simply redirected Ziva's attention. Maybe that was the trick! Tony thought, redirecting Ziva's attention away from the situation! Like she did with the iPod, it was like nothing he had ever seen, usually she pushes and pushes until she gets answers, but not now, it was like she…Tony's brain clicked, she trusted Akiva, not just trusted her, but completely and totally trusted her, maybe even... loved her. Tony's eyes finally closed with that thought, his brain subconsciously replaying the last 6 years he had spent with Ziva.

End Chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

The team slept peacefully for 7 hours, sometimes waking and shifting their positions in the metal bird. Akiva had moved down to the floor of the plane leaving Ziva on the bench, her body was starting to ache from sitting for so long. Her long body was stretched out; she was lying on her stomach, a hand supporting her head, her pack keeping her slightly elevated to keep pressure off her left side. Tony laid on his side, the harness straps keeping him from rolling off the bench seat. Gibbs had moved towards the front of the plane leaning against the cockpit his feet stretched out before him, his head resting on his chest. McGee had picked up his things stuffing them back into the pack and had moved closer to Gibbs, his body curled up as he slept on the floor. Ziva had remained on the bench, an earphone casually dangling from one of her ears as the music continued to play, she had fallen back to sleep after taking two more pills from Gibbs.

Suddenly, the plane started to shake, the team was rudely awakened when the pilots swung the plane to the right, causing Ziva to fall gracelessly on top of Akiva, McGee slid knocking into the bench Tony was on, Gibbs slammed into the side with a grunt. After a series of groans, the team stood looking around, finally the red light started flashing above their heads, quickly they started grabbing their packs and parachutes. McGee fumbled a bit trying to dislodge one of his clips that had somehow gotten wedged under one of the plane's cargo holders. The plane shook again this time with an explosion, Gibbs stuck his head in the cockpit.

"Stingers sir, taking evasive action, get ready for an emergency landing." Baley yelled cranking the plane to the left. Gibbs braced himself for the turn then grabbed his pack and parachute. Akiva helped Ziva stand quickly grabbing her pack, Akiva spun Ziva around clipping her in, as the plane rocked back and forth, Ziva held onto Akiva to keep her balance her leg threatening to give out from the impact with the floor. Tony finally finished clipping himself in when the plane shook again with another explosion, Gibbs pushed McGee onto the bench.

"Clip him in!" Gibbs pulled Ziva next to him as Akiva bent down to her pack. The plane leveled for a moment, before a blinding white light hit the team. There was a great whoosh, and a sucking feeling as the back half of the plane fell apart.

Gibbs uncovered his eyes, Ziva, Tony…Tim! Gibbs eyes looked around he saw McGee on the floor of the plane a strap wrapped around his ankle; he was reaching for a pair of hands griping one of the carrier ties. The wind was whipping around them like a vortex. Gibbs stood, holding onto the guide wire. The plane shook again and Gibbs watched in horror as McGee's foot came loose and he slid out the hole.

"Tim!" Gibbs clipped himself to the guide wire pushing himself towards the end of the plane, he looked over the edge. Akiva held on with one hand, her other, in a Vulcan death grip, around McGee's forearm. Her face held in a perpetual state of agony as she felt as if she was going to be ripped apart. Gibbs reached for her hand as it slipped from the extra weight, the wind was going against him making it harder and harder to move, finally Gibbs flattened himself and reached. But it was two seconds too late, Akiva's hand gave way and Gibbs watched, in complete horror, as they plummeted towards the tree tops. Gibbs blue eyes went wide, searching through the clouds and smoke, but they were gone.

Ziva watched Gibbs stand back up, her entire body flowing cold, the plane shook again, the cockpit exploding.

"Get up! Get out! Now!" Gibbs yanked Tony up, pushing him out of the plane, Tony barely registered what happened before pulling his rip cord. Ziva stood as Gibbs pushed her out as well, she spread her body out to slow her fall, and waited a few moments before pulling her rip cord. Gibbs looked back for a second grabbing McGee's pack before unclipping himself and jumping out as well.

Abby came around the corner of the bullpen slurping the last bits of her CalfPow from her cup, she looked around sadly at the empty desks. She had been busy cataloging evidence against Oren, per the Directors orders, to say the least she was a bit frazzled. She had tested the multiple blood samples from the scene, matching most of it to Ziva and Tony; she had found trace elements of DNA, from the others, on the zip ties and rope that were also recovered. She looked around the bullpen going from desk to desk, touching their things, moving some of Tony's, just reminiscing; she hadn't felt this nervous since they had gone to rescue Ziva. She had been saving up the courage to watch the surveillance footage the other team had found on site. It was a closed wire circuit that covered the entire building. Abby shuddered, a cold chill running through her, she looked around wildly looking for a source. But no one was around; it was past midnight, she was the only one left. Deciding to shrug it off as simple nerves she headed down to Ducky's; knowing he was still doing the triple autopsy.

The elevator doors closed and opened putting her in the basement, she glided through the sliding steel doors of autopsy.

"Ah, Abigail. What a pleasant surprise."

"Hey Ducky." Abby glided up next to him looking down at the seemingly undamaged body of an African American man, known as The Fear. "How'd he die?" Abby leaned over trying to look for a bullet wound.

Ducky chuckled and picked up a specimen jar that held a small piece of metal.

"Oh. No. Way!" Abby took the jar looking at the bloody paperclip. She had heard Ziva threatening Tony with a paperclip but never thought she could actually, kill, someone with one. Abby stared at it in amazement just turning the jar around in her hand.

"Yes, way and very effective too. Went straight into his brain." Ducky pointed to a CAT scan of his head showing the piece of metal before it was removed.

"Instant death?" Abby turned looking at the CAT scan.

"Instant death."

"Cool…" Abby breathed.

End Chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8.

Gibbs guided his parachute the best he could but there was little time due to their altitude, he slammed to the ground lucky to have found a small hole in the thickly covered forest. He rolled slightly letting a breath out he wasn't aware he was holding. Quickly he stood, his head spinning slightly, as he searched the trees. He quickly unclipped the parachute pushing his way through the trees towards a slightly blurry figure on the ground. He approached carefully, M9 drawn; looking around, he heard a familiar groan as he approached. Gibbs blinked again, finally getting his vision to clear, as he saw a tall brown haired form.

"Tony." Gibbs voice was hushed as he rolled the man onto his side, pushing the parachute away from his face. Tony groaned again looking up at his Boss, he gave him a weak thumbs up and rolled himself back over. Gibbs patted his shoulder scanning the trees again and strained his ears to pick up more sounds. Faintly, he heard the rustling of fabric; he turned himself to the left keeping his gun aimed and ready. He took a few steps towards the sound. He slowed when he saw the broken branches, carefully stepping over one he looked around again listening for any sound. Something caught his peripheral vision and he spun around quickly aiming his gun. He sighed in relief, about 7 yards away he could see Ziva, her parachute caught on a tree as she hovered just a few feet from the ground; he could tell she was trying to stay quiet as she fumbled around trying to release the parachute. He quietly made his way over to her holstering his gun, Ziva moved her hands aside and let him un-jam her bindings. After a few tugs and clicks she broke free falling into him. Gibbs smirked and set her on her feet, she gave him a thankful smile then pulled her pack free from the parachute before pulling on the parachute itself.

"Leave it, it would take more time to untangle it then to dispose of it." He whispered making his way back to DiNozzo. Ziva nodded and followed his lead, limping slightly. Tony had since rolled onto his back pulling the parachute free from his pack, he looked up when Gibbs and Ziva approached.

"What should I do with it?"

"Bury it."

Tony nodded and pulled out a small shovel from his pack, Gibbs made his way to his pack looking around for extra one he grabbed on his way out.

"Ziva, there should be another pack." Ziva immediately started canvassing the area. She quickly came back holding McGee's pack in hand. Gibbs smiled a thank you at her before heading back to DiNozzo with his parachute. Ziva silently followed looking at McGee's pack in her hand.

"Gibbs, if you have his pack then-"

"I know." Gibbs ground out not wanting to think about what just happened. He looked around the trees for any sign that they had actually made it to the ground.

Tony looked up from his hole, "Boss, should we-"

"No."

"But-"

"I said, No." Gibbs swallowed looking around; those were the hardest three words he had ever had to say in his entire life. Ziva went to his side, her fingers ever so slightly touching the back of his hand. He looked down at her, his eyes filled with so many emotions, Ziva held his gaze momentarily before looking away.

"Gibbs…" Ziva voice was soft as she looked back up at him, "If…"Ziva breathed, swallowing, blinking slowly," If they are alive…then Akiva would lead them to the first check point…"

Gibbs jaw twitched as he looked over her head unable to meet her gaze, his mind whirling he looked down at McGee's pack still in Ziva's grasp, he took it from her pulling out the GPS, he tossed it to DiNozzo.

"Make that work and fast, night is falling." Gibbs looked back at Ziva his face inches from hers, "I hope your right."

Ziva nodded and stepped back looking around, they would have to set up camp somewhere else, if they were spotted then staying there would not be a good idea. The temperature and sun were setting fast they had to get moving.

Ziva, Tony and Gibbs quickly buried the parachutes and collected their gear, each took turns carrying the extra pack as they slowly made their way into the dark forest, although there was little snow on the ground the temperature was dropping quickly. Gibbs could hear Ziva's teeth chattering as she made her way through the brush. They were 2 clicks from their original drop off point which meant they were 3 clicks from their first checkpoint and at this rate; the cold would kill them long before anyone with a gun would. Gibbs lead them on for another hour, his eyes never leaving his two remaining agents, Tony's nose was a Rudolph worthy red and Ziva's lips had started to turn blue. Gibbs himself, could not feel his fingers or his toes and knew they were close to hypothermia. Gibbs gave the hand signal for halt and both his agent's looked at him expectantly.

"We camp here, we'll travel more in when the temperature rises." Gibbs whispered setting down his pack.

"Fire Boss?"

"No fire." Gibbs turned around, "clear the parameter I want at least a 1,000 yard radius, we'll take turns keeping watch."

Ziva sat her pack down pulling out her P90 she went off slowly to the left her body numb and her muscles stiff as she scanned their surroundings. Tony laid down his pack picking up his weapon and moved to the right. Gibbs, sat down removing their military issue blankets, he put two of them together then pulled out two more, they were going to have to sleep close together and they were just going to have to like it. Soon enough, both agents gave the all clear and went back to their camp.

"I'll take first watch, you two get under these and get close." Ziva and Tony both gave Gibbs weird looks.

"Why Gibbs?" Ziva asked flustered at the idea of having to sleep so close to Tony, knowing that he would hold it over her head like he did when there were undercover.

"How much you weigh Ziva?" Gibbs asked nonchalantly as he inspected his weapon.

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows looking at him a look of confusion crossing her features, "120."

"Do you know long it would take for your core body temperature to drop in this cold?"

"I see your point." Ziva sighed in defeat as she lowered herself onto the make shift bed, by now she had already lost feeling in most of her body, they had only been moving for maybe 2 hours at best. Tony moved the packs around them like a shield, one for each of their heads and one on either side of them shielding them from the cold. Tony laid down next to Ziva pulling her close in a spooning position. They shifted for a few moments, trying to get comfortable, their bodies stinging at they warmed.

Gibbs sat on the ground leaning against a tree, shielding himself from the wind. He closed his eyes keeping his ears opened to the sounds around him. He could hear animals moving, birds flying, all the wonderful sounds of nature as the daytime animals drifted off to sleep and the nighttime animals came out to play.

Meanwhile, back in DC, Abby was still filtering through the evidence; she had made a mirrored copy of Oren's hard drive and was currently sorting through all the files. Abby's brow furrowed in confusion when she came across a file folder with Ziva's name on it. She double clicked, opening the file, her lips dipped deeper in a frown when she looked at the video files, there were no names just a series of numbers. Curious, Abby clicked on the first one. Abby stepped back as she looked at her big screen pulling the video full size, a low scratchy sound filled her speakers and the black screen slowly lit up revealing a dusty, antique looking image.

Abby stepped closer squinting her eyes, it was obvious that this was a VHS before it was a digital file; the image was distorted and had tracking lines running through it. She could see a small person sitting in a chair with their hands behind their back, head down on their chest, long hair obscuring the view of their face. Abby unconsciously leaned over trying to see the face. Abby jumped when the video produced a loud banging noise, she watched as a set of legs went across the camera's field of capture. Because of the level of the camera she couldn't see the owners face, but watched as the large legs circled around the person in the chair.

"Welcome to Mossad, _Officer_, David." The man's voice was low and reverberated off Abby's otherwise silent lab. Abby's eyes widened in shock when the man kicked out hard at Ziva's stomach, causing the chair she was in to slide against the floor and slam into the wall. Ziva made a small grunting noise but otherwise remained silent, her body slumping forward as she tried desperately to rasp quietly. The man laughed, and Abby shivered; she wanted so desperately to turn off the feed but she couldn't; she was rooted to her spot.

Finally, Ziva looked up at the camera, Abby put a hand over her mouth, she was defiantly younger; a lot younger, but her face was covered in bruises, black blood streaming down her nose covering her mouth and chin. She heard the man laugh again as he advanced on his target. He bent down slightly leaning close to her ear, she watched Ziva's face contort in anger and she pulled her head away from him. He growled grabbing a hold of her, much shorter but still wildly curly, hair. Abby still could not make out the man's face the video was too degraded and he had the uncanny ability to stick to the shadows. Abby heard the door open again, softer this time, and a pair of much thinner legs came into view. The man looked up at the new comer with a grin, revealing his stained yellow teeth and large canines.

"She is ready." The man's voice was gruff and his English was heavily accented.

"Lesson number 16, resisting and or surviving sexual torture." The woman's voice was calm and cool as she spoke, Abby felt like she was going to throw up, she knew that voice, it was the same young light voice that was on the DVD they watched before the team left, it was…Abby grabbed her stomach, and fell to the ground trying to take deep calm breaths. But the tape played on, she could hear the ripping of fabric and the sound of someone hitting the floor. Abby's eyes filled with tears, as the tape played on she could hear the muffled sounds of someone resisting.

"Stay calm, do not fight, relax." Akvia voice was soft and cold. Abby ran into her office pulling a trashcan from the ground, and she heaved.

"DiNozzo." Gibbs shook Tony's shoulder gently, rousing the man from his sleep, Tony blinked turning over looking at his Boss. Tony groaned pulling himself up from the warm body next to him, Ziva shifted slightly but remained asleep. Gibbs helped Tony stand handing him a weapon, Tony shuddered as the cold whipped around his warmed body, he staggered sleepily to the tree Gibbs had taken up post at and plopped down yawning loudly. Gibbs slid under the warmed blankets, his cold body coming into contact with Ziva.

Ziva's eyes snapped open as Gibbs nestled himself against her; his cold arms curling around her waist, she looked over her shoulder at him, his lips had gone blue by now, and she could tell he was clenching his jaw to keep his teeth still. She could feel his frozen digits through her fatigues, slowly she lifted her shirt, putting his hands in contact with her warm stomach. Ziva hissed closing her eyes, he was freezing. Gibbs went to pull away but she laid her hands on top of his pulling her shirt down over their joined hands. Gibbs groaned in pain as his hands slowly regained feeling; Ziva nestled closer trying the best she could to warm his large body.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9.

About 3 hours later, the sun started its assent, Gibbs shifted feeling a warm body next to his, it took a moment for everything to register in his brain. His hands moved upward slowly running over the warm body's scars, he stopped immediately when he hit a bra, frozen in place as he realized where he was and what had transpired. Ziva. Gibbs pulled his hands away quickly as if being burned. Ziva opened her eyes looking over her shoulder at him a faint smile disappearing from her lips. Gibbs looked anywhere but her face as he pulled himself to his feet.

Tony looked up from his post with a yawn, "Mornin' Boss."

Gibbs wiped a hand down his face the cool morning air blowing across his back ruffling his jacket. Ziva stood slowly her body shuddering in the morning air, she pulled her hands over her hair pushing away loose strands.

"Let's move." Ziva, Tony and Gibbs rolled up the blankets after shaking them out the best they could before grabbing their guns and shouldering their packs. Another long day's journey ahead of them.

Ducky walked through Abby's always open door scanning the room for the presently absent forensics specialist. He noticed that her computers were still computing even though she was not present. Ducky frowned slightly moving further into the lab, and through her sliding glass door that led to her office space. Ducky looked on the floor noticing a black platform sticking out from behind her desk, "Abby?" He called softly taking in her tear streaked make up, "Abigail are you alright my dear?" Abby shifted lifting her head from Bert.

"I hate her Ducky." Abby said softly wiping her face. She had fallen asleep in a fit of tears after stopping the video not being able to handle anymore. Ducky took a step forward his foot crunching on plastic, he stopped looking down at the CD Akiva had given her, the case was smashed and now broken into smaller pieces after his foot landed on the unseen object.

"Akiva?"

"Yes."

Ducky offered his hand helping Abby stand, "Whatever for dear?"

Abby sniffled and shuffled past the smaller man going to her computer, "I was going through Oren's computer, and I found these video files…" Ducky stood next to her looking down at the paused video, "She-they-they did things and Akiva she didn't do anything…"

"That doesn't seem like her character…" Ducky's brow furrowed, he had been slowly building a psychological profile of Akiva in the back of his mind. "Did you finish the video?" He asked softly watching Abby's face contort with sadness.

"No…I couldn't…it…made me sick…"Abby touched her stomach looking down at Ducky a new wave of tears threatening to fall. Ducky took her hand in his searching her eyes, hoping to feed her the comfort that she desperately needed.

"Then how do you know?"

Abby looked at him in confusion, "Know what?"

"That she did nothing?"

Abby looked from Ducky to the paused video, she had stopped it after she emptied the contents of her stomach refusing to look at the screen as the man's hands ripped and pawed at Ziva's upper body…

"Ducky I can't-"

"It is unwise to judge an incomplete situation…" Ducky warned looking over the rim of his glasses at her. Abby bit her lip, her emotions running wild. Her face went through a series of complex emotions as Ducky watched, he waited for her to see the reality was hidden from her.

"Will you stay?"

"Of course." Ducky placed a hand on the small of her back as she looked at her computer screen; Abby took a deep breath and pushed the spacebar. The video started up again…the man sat back on his hunches pulling roughly at Ziva's belt. Abby started to cringe then she saw Akiva take a step forward.

"Enough." Akiva spoke firmly, but the man ravaging Ziva's body continued, "I said enough!" Akiva yelled gripping the man by his collar forcibly removing him and tossing him effortlessly across the room. The man jumped up towering down at her; his face inches from hers as they tried to stare each other down. Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open and another man walked in.

"What is the meaning of this?" he shouted pulling the larger man away from Akiva, "You!" he pointed to Akiva grabbing her by her throat, pushing her towards Ziva's prone body. Her face was set even as his hand threatened to crush her windpipe. He glared at her staring her in the eyes, her mouth was open slightly as she struggled, silently, to breathe. He growled and let go, causing her to stumble and fall, her knees landing on either side of Ziva's hips her upper body supported by her hands that were on either side of Ziva's turned head. "Finish this!"

"She's not ready." Akiva ground out looking down at Ziva's tear streaked face.

"What?"

"She's not ready!" Akiva yelled looking over at the man, he stepped under the light, it illuminated his harsh features, Abby let out a small gasp, it was Oren. He looked down at the two of them with disgust.

"Do it anyway!"

"Why? Lesson 16 is never used anymore! Why now? Why her!" Akiva yelled back her hands clenching into fists.

Oren looked down his nose at her, his mouth forming a terrible grin, "It was ordered."

"By who?"

"Her father."

Akiva stared wide eyed at Oren, Ziva let out a strangled cry that she had been holding back causing all the members of the room to look at her. Oren sneered, his lip curling up in disgust, before turning and leaving the room, he was quickly followed by the man Akiva had thrown into a wall. Akiva watched them go before looking down at Ziva. Abby could hear Ziva sob but could not see her face as Akiva obscured her view, she watched as Akiva lowered her upper body onto Ziva cradling her head. Abby could see Ziva's face now her eyes were open in terror and pain as the tears flowed freely from her eyes; Akiva thumbed them away and kissed her temple before the video cut out.

Abby and Ducky remained silent for a few moments, before Abby closed the lid to the laptop. She looked down at Ducky, he had been right, painfully right, Abby didn't know what to feel anymore, her body was so exhausted from over work, her missing team, and all the secrets that were slowly being revealed to her. At one point, she wanted to know everything about Ziva, be there for her, understand her, be close to her; a friend. But now, she understood, she understood everything.

"Ducky I-"

"Shh, come dear, you need a break." Ducky took Abby's hand in the crook of his elbow leading her away from the lab.

Ziva had taken point, her eyes much sharper then Gibbs', or Tony's; she could see movement ahead, she signaled silently to Gibbs, holding up two fingers. Gibbs and Tony moved quickly behind trees. Ziva went prone, quietly approaching the two figures as quietly as she could.

End Chapter.

AN: Hope that clears up any confusion! :3


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

Ziva crawled closer keeping low to the ground, she could barely make out the two figures through the brush of the forest floor, she pushed herself forward slightly, immediately, freezing in place. She closed her eyes in a grimace as the twig beneath her knee snapped. She looked up to see one of the figures turn around looking straight at her. It wasn't them, it wasn't Akiva or McGee. Ziva swallowed, slowing her breathing, keeping perfectly still. One of the figures came closer and she got a better look, he was carrying an AK47 and pineapples, not unusual for Russian militia. Ziva held her breath as he approached her position, his foot mere inches from her face. Her eyes stayed focused on his worn boot, afraid to move even her eyes, her breathing so shallow that her head was starting to get light. Ziva knew Tony and Gibbs where safe as long as they stayed put. She could feel her tortured lungs aching for air and she closed her eyes willing the man to retreat.

"Oi!" The guard next to Ziva turned, the heal of his boot just barely brushing her finger tips, Ziva opened her eyes when she felt him move, the ground trembling slightly, as he moved further and further away. Ziva took in a shallow breath her body sinking further into the ground with relaxed tension. Ziva watched as the men had a quick conversation before taking off in a sprint down, what she assumed was a trail. Ziva waited until she could no longer hear the clicking of their gear, before pulling herself into a crouching position taking deep breaths, trying to calm her heart and her lungs.

Gibbs and Tony quickly moved to her position, flanking her, "That was close." Ziva whispered.

Gibbs nodded, "How much longer till the first check point?"

"About an hour." Tony confirmed pulling out the GPS.

"Good, let's keep moving, it's almost noon." Gibbs stood up heading forward to the left, Tony stepped off to the right and Ziva took her post back in the center, catching up with Gibbs and taking back the lead.

Abby returned to her lab sipping contently on a fresh CalfPow her mind somewhat refreshed after a gentle word with Ducky. However, she still had to go through Oren's computer for any evidence she could. The Director seemed very irritated by the entire case, he kept calling and asking for any updates or leads she could find. Abby sighed and put her CalfPow on the table, she needed to find out who helped Oren escape. She had already seen one of the men in the videos, but he was in autopsy. She needed to dig deeper, look in different places. Abby pulled her tall, wheeled chair over to her work station plopping down unceremoniously. She opened the lid of Oren's laptop, Abby closed the file with Ziva's name on it and started looking through the files again, a black eyebrow raised itself when she found a hidden partition with more names and more video files and one of them had Akiva's name on it. Abby hesitantly clicked the file folder open revealing a series of word documents, audio files, pictures and videos. Abby clicked on one of the photos; it revealed a young girl, with wildly curly hair, bright blue eyes, wearing a white tank top and long pants. Her skin was a beautiful tan color and she was sitting in the sand, pieces of a gun all around her, she looked like she was putting it together. Abby's brow furrowed, she couldn't have been more than 8 or 9! The girl's body was thin, but long and she looked deep in concentration her head bent towards the weapon in her hands. Abby knew the photo was old and there was no way she could possibly pull a date stamp from it. She closed the file opening another picture. This one showed a little bit older Akiva, her face was still smooth with youth but her eyes were cold as ice as she stared into the camera. She was holding a gun way bigger then her lithe body would have normally allowed, but she seemed comfortable with the weapon. Desert fatigues hung off her like an ill fitted coat, and her face was dirty, her hands bloody. She could see military vehicles in the background but the picture was too degraded to blow up. Abby could make out two much taller men behind her shouldering similar weapons, their faces only slightly turned to the camera as they appeared to be conversing with each other. Abby squinted trying to identify the men, but the picture was too old and too blurry. She let out a frustrated sigh and closed the file. She needed answers! She felt like she was spinning her wheels.

Abby sighed and spun herself around, starting from the beginning. Oren and Akiva both had connections to the three men lying in autopsy. And Ziva had admitted to killing the other two men from the briefing file, so who was left? Who was she missing? Her eyes opened slightly thinking of the men's code names. Pain, Fear, End, they were emotions! Abby pulled the file folder off her evidence table looking at the two other men that were already dead. Code names…code names…Abby's eyes scanned the page, The Sorrow and…Abby closed the file pulling out the other man who Ziva had killed. Abby smiled slightly as she found was she was looking for, The Fury. Abby rolled herself back to her computers typing in all the code names. She looked at the list her brain silently ticking away, finally, she smiled. She figured it out. Well part of it. They were emotions one felt in war, the pain, the fear, the sorrow, the fury and finally the end, Abby felt her heart leap for joy. She was about to go and get herself a congratulatory candy bar when she realized; all these men were dead, it still didn't answer who got Oren out of that house. Abby growled and slammed her head on her desk.

"Damn it!"

Ziva stopped behind a tree, she could hear voices; slowly, she peeked her head around looking off into the distance. She could see soldiers running the sounds of their boots making the otherwise silent forest go alive with the sound of birds and animals as they started fleeing. Ziva looked back at Gibbs and Tony shaking her head slightly, there was too many of them; if they wanted to succeed it would be wise to go around them. Ziva leaned herself against the tree, listening, suddenly gun fire erupted she ducked down looking to Tony and Gibbs, they had their guns raised but didn't fire. The soldier's gun fire wasn't aimed at them but something up ahead. Ziva groaned, had they just stepped into a turf war? Ziva stuck her head around her tree again looking in the distance. She could hear screaming as men got shot but couldn't hear the returning gun fire. Something in her turned cold, her stomach knotting in fear. Silencers weren't something the average soldier carried with them, and she couldn't hear the return gun fire. Ziva, Tony and Gibbs moved closer, the soldiers distracted by the fire fight at their front.

Then, they saw it, a flash of brown curly hair. Ziva's heart leapt in her throat, could it be them?

"AGH!" More bodies hit the ground.

End Chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11.

Ziva moved quickly and quietly staying close to trees, she took out some of the men, with headshots, Tony and Gibbs did the same carefully aiming their fire with deadly accuracy. The soldiers caught on however, and spread themselves out; with only about 10 or so left, some of them towards them the others at their first assailants.

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva quickly took out the men that had started to advance on them, their bodies hitting the floor in silence. Quickly, they moved in formation, searching for more when they came upon a clearing, they stepped over body after body looking around for anything familiar, when Tony bent down pulling on the strap of a U.S. issue pack, he pulled it free from the dead body that had covered it.

"Boss." He showed the pack to Gibbs, who frowned in response.

Ziva searched through the bodies quickly, none of them were who she was looking for, "Not here Gibbs."

Ziva reached over looking at the pack; after a moment, she took it from Tony noticing a small amount of blood. Ziva turned looking into the trees; Gibbs followed her lead looking for any sign. Tony noticed a small slightly worn trail to their north.

"Hey boss, I got a blood trail." He looked at a few drops of blood on a leaf, the forest had gone eerily silent. Then, as if a gift from God, a snap of a twig drew all their attention northward.

"Follow it." Gibbs shouldered his larger weapon pulling out his M9. Slowly they made their way down the steep narrow trail, each one of them noticing small droplets of blood but nothing else. Tony pulled out their GPS, they were getting closer to the first check point. Ziva kept a steady but slow pace, now shouldering an extra pack, unfortunately it was weighing on her body. Her lungs were tight and her heart was pounding loudly in her chest. She needed to find them, _they_ needed to find them. Ziva pushed a tree out of her way leading to a clearing and stopped, she saw a shirtless man standing in the clearing and he was groaning, loudly. Ziva shifted slightly setting the extra pack on the ground quietly; Gibbs and Tony flanked her keeping their eyes on the man. His hair was dirty and his neck was smudged with some type of make up, his back was nearly black, whether from dirt or blood they couldn't tell. They watched as long female fingers wrapped around the man's hip keeping him in place. The man shifted and groaned again his head tipping back-

"McGee!" Tony yelped, pushing through the brush. McGee tried to spin around but the hands holding him in place prevented him from fully turning. Akiva popped her head around his side, her mouth covered in blood that showed no apparent source.

"Hold still!" She growled moving back to her original spot.

Tony couldn't help himself and started laughing, it just looked so wrong. Ziva came into the small clearing followed by Gibbs.

"What are you doing?" Ziva gasped looking at the sight.

Akiva was on her knees her head level with McGee's crotch, his shirt had been removed as a small amount of blood, just above the hem of his paints, was dripping down. Akiva rolled her eyes and wiped her mouth, "Trying to get the bullet fragment out, it's almost there, but you, interrupted me."

"That wasn't the only thing we interrupted." Tony smirked looking at a visible bump between McGee's legs. McGee's face would have made a rose jealous as his mouth hung open trying to explain the situation; frantically, he looked around at his team mates his bottom lip twitching with unfound words.

Akiva's hand shot out quick, box shooting Tony, he quickly guarded himself and moved further away from her. She looked back up at McGee, "Hold still, we need it out so it doesn't get infected." Akiva put her hands back on his waist bringing her lips back in contact with his wound, causing him to groan in pain as the little piece of metal was sucked from his skin. After a few more sucks the bullet fragment was successfully in her mouth, she released him standing, she moved the piece around with her tongue spitting the offending piece of metal into her hand. She held the little piece up in triumph; looking at Gibbs, a bloody smile coming to her lips. Gibbs looked her over an eyebrow raised.

"What?" Akiva looked around, unaware at just how bloody her face had become, Ziva looked away wiping her mouth in a hint. Akiva chuckled and brought up her sleeve wiping most of the blood away from her lips. Akiva spit a few times getting the rest of the blood taste out of her mouth.

"You dropped this." Gibbs tossed Akiva's back at her, she caught it in one fluid motion and set it on the ground.

"Thank you. I thought we were going to be completely without equipment."

McGee looked down at the small bleeding hole just above his hip, "Uh guys?" Akiva turned her head looking at the still bleeding man. She leaned over pulling out the basic medical supplies needed to patch the hole.

"Like a little pain with your pleasure Timmy?" Tony quipped making a point to look at McGee's waist. Akiva looked at Tony following his line of sight an eyebrow raised a smirk passing her lips.

"Shut up Tony!" McGee covered his shame, looking anywhere but at Akiva.

"Aww, McGee I'm flattered." Akiva said in an uncharacteristic girly voice. Akiva approached him again, pulling on the hem of his pants; McGee squeaked and moved his hands. She unabashedly reached inside pulling out a bandana she had stuffed there to keep the blood from running down his legs. It would have been an awful mess, not to mention, that blood could attract a certain kind of creature they would not want to face. Tony's smile fell from his face as the bloody rag came at him; he just barely dodged it. Gibbs was shaking his head watching Akiva and McGee, he felt a sigh of relief flow through him that they were both alive, but McGee's back was almost black from the large amount of bruising that must have happened when they hit the forest floor.

McGee squirmed and whimpered as Akiva cleaned and patched his wound. Finally, she was finished and McGee was handed back his jacket, Akiva stuffed the rest of the medical supplies back in her pack. Ziva stepped closer to Akiva her eyes searching for any sign of pain or discomfort. A cool breeze filter through the trees and the sunlight hit her face, high lighting a dark bruise down her neck. Ziva's hand hesitantly reached out, her cool fingers gently touching the dark mark. Akiva stood slowly eyes locked with Ziva's. Ziva's hand fell to her side as they watched each other.

Gibbs set down the rest of their equipment, making a small camp. Tony and McGee were taking orders pulling out supplies and getting ready to make food. Akiva and Ziva just stared at each other, both of their faces twitching slightly as they had a completely silent conversation.

Abby sipped on her CalfPow her mind turning and turning, she was missing something, someone was missing, but who was it? She had tried looking at the surveillance video from the torture rooms, but the video feed was cut before whoever it was entered the building. The only thing she saw was Oren bleeding on the floor. She grumbled and opened more files on Oren's laptop, she face scrunched, they were in Akiva's file but they didn't have her name, just a number, and they looked like science experiments. Curious Abby scrolled through looking for information:

"…_Subject 0011A4 age 2, shows significant promise, emotional deprivation is effective, muscle and height structure nominal. Color change progressive, injections effective if only temporary. Training exercise to begin next week…"_

"… _Subject 0011A4 age 4, no longer emotionally dependent, high IQ, problem solving skills, language is progressing at exceptional levels. Muscle structure building on schedule, more tests to be conducted…"_

"…_Subject 0011A4 age 6, setbacks in emotional maturation, possible psychological breakdown imminent, more testing required before preceding into a field test. Eye color effectively changed, shows stress when exposed to other human contact, is wary and unresponsive to commands…"_

"…_Subject 0011A4 age 8, given a name today, seems unreceptive to the new information, emotional setbacks not expected, martial and kill factor rising, shows no remorse when faced with death. Body mass and height at reasonable levels; muscle structure more than average shows significant psychical strength and is not afraid of confrontation." _

Abby stopped reading; clicking on a video file that seemed to be dated close to the last entry. Slowly just as before, an image came onto the screen. A small brown haired, brown eyed girl, came onto the screen. She was sitting in a windowless room, with stark grey concrete walls. Her clothes were black, her shirt tight against her small frame, her pants loose and her shoes, combat style boots and tan. Her eyes were hollow and her face was emotionless. She stared with a bored expression at the camera. A man crossed in front of a screen sitting down in a chair off camera.

"Do you know why you are here?" The girl nodded slightly.

"What is your name?"

"I have no name." The girl's voice was monotone and dead, her lips barely moving as she spoke, she crossed her small arms over her chest, even with her youth they were well defined with muscle.

Abby could hear the sound of paper turning, the man sighed and even though she could not see him she assumed he was flipping through a file.

"You were given a name do you remember what it was?" The man's voice had a bored and calm tone to it.

"Akuziva."

"Yes. Good." The man turned some more pages. Abby waited wondering what would happen next, "Do you know what we are to do today?"

The young Akiva uncrossed her arms resting her hands on her knees, "I am to kill."

"Your first kill. Are you excited?"

"It is what it is." Akiva leaned back in her chair her eyes looking around the room with a blank expression.

"How do you feel today?"

"Normal."

"No pain, or discomfort?"

"No."

"Good…good. Yesterday, you were brought into interrogation, what did you tell them?"

"Nothing."

The man flipped through some more papers, sighing slightly.

"What did they do to you?"

Akiva brought her eyes back to the man, she snorted, "Isn't it in your file? Why waste time?"

"I asked you a question."

Akiva crossed her arms again, "I don't have to answer to you."

"Who do you answer to?"

"My master and no one else."

"And who is your master?"

Akiva scoffed again and turned her head away from the man in complete defiance.

Abby heard the man grumble and the sound of a pen on paper. The door to the room opened, and two guard like men entered. They looked so large compared to the child sitting in the chair, but Akiva paid them no mind as they stood on either side of the door. There was some shuffling then a woman was dragged into the room her body fell to the floor, her hands bound. Akiva looked down at the unknown woman with indifference.

"Do you know who that is?"

"No."

"That is your mother."

"What is a mother?"

"A mother is who gives birth to children."

Akiva looked down at the woman her face furrowed in confusion. The woman got to her knees crawling to Akiva, she pulled at Akiva's legs murmuring in Hebrew, her hands dragging across Akiva's body. Akiva jerked away standing behind the chair.

"Why is she here?"

"She wanted to see you."

"Why?"

Akiva's mother shuffled around on her knees trying to touch her daughter. Akiva stayed two steps ahead of her keeping a close eye on the woman.

"She loves you, apparently." The man said in a bored tone. Abby saw his hand wave in front of the camera and the two guards pulled the woman kicking and crying from the room.

"What does one do with this love?" Akiva took her seat back looking relieved that the woman was gone.

"No need to worry about any of that."

Akiva nodded and crossed her arms again. The video cut out and Abby leaned back unaware that she had leaned in so close while the video was running.

"Wow…"Abby sighed.

Tony, Gibbs, McGee, Ziva and Akiva sat in a small circle eating their rations, Tony kept looking between Ziva and Akiva, they hadn't said two words to each other but somehow they were conversing.

"So." Gibbs started swallowing his food. "We still have three more check points, were not making good time."

Akiva nodded, "No, but I saw a truck down at the bottom of the hill, it looks like a personnel truck, we might be able to capture it and use it to get to our target faster."

"Guards?"

"Three, that I could see, more of them are left in that clearing I suppose."

"Won't they be curious when they don't check in?" Tony asked putting more salt on whatever it was he was eating.

"Yea, we need to move quickly." Akiva scooped the last of her food out of her ration bag setting it aside.

End Chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Sorry for the slow update…kinda got sidetracked by a Hermione/Severus Story…more to come I promise. Being a teacher is a lot of work so I'm taking what little moments I can to write.

Chapter 12.

McGee stood slowly, his back was pulsing with his every movement; Akiva had assured him that he hadn't broken anything, but he was still sore as hell. He didn't know how she did it, they both had hit the ground hard but she acted like it didn't even matter. He was lucky to be alive after their fall; if only by a hint of luck did Akiva have her parachute already attached to her pack when they were thrust from the plane. He closed his eyes as his stomach rolled at the memory. He could remember her hand's death grip as they swung dangerously out of the plane, the way he so effortlessly swung in the wind. He had always been afraid of heights and now he was officially afraid of airplanes. He felt the jerk when Akiva's shoulder popped out of its socket and the second jerk when her hand let go. His eyes were closed tightly but he could feel her wrap her body tightly around him, her arms under his armpits encircling his back he assumed she locked her hands somehow because he couldn't feel her fingers pressed into his skin. It felt like a life time of falling before the parachute jerked them. Akiva had slipped slightly her body grinding against his, her knee cap dangerously close to his family jewels. He wrapped himself around her as well, his arms going around her neck and back not really sure how he should hold her. But the wind was rushing through his ears so loudly, he couldn't have heard her say anything different. They landed in the trees, the parachute got caught and he hit the ground hard, leaving him breathless his eyes shooting open in white pain. When his breathing had returned to normal, he half expected to find Akiva on top of him, I mean they had fallen together; but the sight that met his eyes would haunt him for a long time. Akiva was stuck in a tree, the parachute had wrapped around her neck, somehow. Her lips were blue from what he hoped was the cold, it was sunset by the time he had regained consciousness, she just hung there limply, the back of her neck bruised from what he could only assume was from a branch. He got to his feet slowly, going over to her body, she looked like a puppet on marionette strings, the parachute had put her body at an odd angle, her arms where out slightly at her sides, her upper body held up by her neck and a parachute string, her lower body tangled in tree limbs and parachute cords. He swallowed hard reaching out for one of her hands, it was ice cold, he couldn't tell if she was breathing from the odd angle of her body. He was lucky to be just tall enough to reach the parachute cords, he started meticulously cutting her down making sure he could catch her when she was free, soon enough her limp and, slightly heavy, body fell into his and he sighed in relief when he could feel her chest moving against him. He knew they were stuck until she woke up, he was without his pack and she was the only one who could navigate the map in her pack, he pulled out the single blanket clearing away a small spot in the dirt, removing the twigs and rocks and settled on his side next to her.

"McGee." Tony hissed, waving his hand impatiently at him, "Let's go."

McGee snapped his head around, he was the last one in the clearing, he grabbed his pack throwing it over one shoulder and pulled out his M9 following Tony and the rest of the team down the small trail. Gibbs and Akiva took point, Akiva just slightly more ahead then Gibbs, her eyes locked on the cargo truck. Two guards stood outside smoking cigarettes and appeared to being telling jokes, as they were laughing rather loudly. Gibbs saddled himself next to Akiva drawing his M9, Akiva did the same and they stood shoulder to shoulder each one taking aim and watching for any other soldiers.

"On three." Akiva whispered, "One…two…three." They pulled the triggers simultaneously and both guards hit the ground with muffled thuds. They kept their guard up looking for more, after a few moments they seem satisfied and moved down the trail closer to the truck.

Akiva bent down and picked up the still lit cigarette from the, now, dead soldier's mouth, she brought it to her lips. Suddenly, a hand smacked hers and the cigarette fell away into a small snow pile. Akiva too shocked to move, hand still raised to her face, shifted her eyes and looked over to Gibbs who as now wearing a deep frown on his face. Her mouth dropped open slightly, before setting in a firm line.

"I wanted that."

Gibbs just shifted his weight keeping his glare eyed on her, as if begging her to say something. Akiva huffed out of her nose and put her gun away.

"All clear." Ziva said as she came around the side of the truck, she stopped when she noticed Gibbs and Akiva in another staring match. Tony and McGee slid up next to her also looking between the two, very strong willed, people.

Akiva growled and rolled her eyes, brushing past Gibbs into the driver's seat of the truck, she wanted a cigarette, badly. So what if she was shot in the lungs? She was going to die sooner or later! Akiva cranked the old truck causing it to roar with life. She could see the others having a quiet conversation on who would sit in the warm cab first. Finally, it was decided through an interesting game of rock paper scissors, with Tony being the victor.

Tony happily climbed into the warming cab giving a large smile at Akiva, who simply rolled her eyes and looked out the windshield. She felt the back of the truck shift as the rest of the team climbed inside, she waited a moment before putting the truck into gear. It ground with an almost painful noise as it shifted gears, then lurching forward slightly it made its way down the worn trail.

"So…" Tony started not really sure of what to say, he wanted to know so many things as once, how did they survive the fall for starters, plus a few more bits and pieces about her and Ziva's not so obvious relationship. He felt kind of like a big brother to Ziva, and he had seen her get hurt by many men, including himself, and he would be damned if he would let anything happen to her now that she was safe at NCIS. Tony was opening his mouth and closing it as his questions rolled through his mind, making him look something like a fish.

Akiva spared him a glance and once more rolled her eyes, "Spit it out before it chokes you." Although her voice was deadpan Tony could detect a slight hint of concern as well.

"Do you love her?" He blurted, his words coming out slightly jumbled, his eyebrows furrowed, it was not what he had originally intended to say, but it was too late to take it back now; so he simply sat and waited. He watched her face twitch for a moment before her mouth opened slowly.

"I do not know what love is…" Her voice was a mere whisper as she seemed to stare off into the distance.

"It's-a feeling, you know." Tony furrowed his eyebrows trying to explain, "In here." He pointed to his heart. Akiva brought her hand to her left side mirroring Tony's actions.

"There is nothing here, just an emptiness." Akiva's eyes looked into his confusion.

Tony set his jaw, he didn't know her past, sure it had been difficult he was sure, but she had a mother that obviously cared about her. He couldn't explain what love is, it was a feeling, not something that he could easily explain. His mind drifted back to the night she was in Ziva's apartment, the smell he had smelled.

Akiva shifted the truck, her mind fuddled, she couldn't understand what love was, she knew what duty, honor and protection felt like. Was it the same? She touched the x shaped scar that was supposed to be over her heart.

"What do you feel when you and Ziva…you know?" He wasn't sure what to word it, he wasn't even sure it had happened. He was going out on a limb and he wasn't sure if she was going to cut down the tree or not.

Akiva sneered slightly, giving him a glance. "_Sex_." She emphasized, " Is a psychical release. I don't see what it has to do with this love thing you are talking about."

Tony recoiled slightly, his face turning into a deep frown, "You don't feel anything?" He hoped, no pleaded for anything positive to come from the older woman's mouth. He didn't like the idea that Ziva was being used for a _psychical release_, more so by the fact that Akiva did have a child. He wouldn't let Ziva get hurt, no matter how much Ziva trusted her, he would not let Akiva tear Ziva's heart to pieces.

Akiva shifted the gears again as they ascended a small hill, "Why are you so fixated on this, love, thing anyway?" Akiva spared him another glance reading his face; she could see his need to protect Ziva through his eyes. She smirked to herself, so that was what this was really all about, "You do not have to worry, she does not love me, and I will not break her heart."

Tony looked at Akiva, in slight shock, but he wasn't so sure that Akiva was right. He had seen the way Ziva acted around Akiva. Completely relaxed, docile even; she was completely in trust with the stone faced woman, he also noticed the small flashes in Ziva's eyes; and how she cried in his arms at her apparent death. No, Akiva may not love Ziva, but Ziva defiantly loved her; he just wasn't sure in what capacity.

Darkness fell upon them quickly but Tony was too busy in his own thoughts to notice, he knew Ziva would hate him for diving into her personal life; but he also felt it was part of his responsibility, he didn't know why it was, but he couldn't keep the gnawing feeling at bay. He vividly remembered what happened last time he meddled, but still it couldn't deter him. He stole, what he hoped were surreptitious, glances at Akiva as she drove. Her face was impassive but her eyes were telling an array of stories. Anger, resentment, pain, sadness, resolve, happiness, pride, fear every possible emotion but love.

The truck jerked suddenly sending him into the dashboard as Akiva slammed on the breaks. The headlights flickered slightly but through the darkness a man appeared. He was wearing a black shirt and camo pants, he held a Thomson across his chest, his skin was illuminated by the moonlight and the truck lights giving it an unearthly glow. His hair was dark and his eyes where just black slits at the distance, Tony looked over at Akiva. Her mouth hung open slightly her eyes wide, Tony felt fear roll through him.

"Master…"

End Chapter.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13.

Akiva climbed out of the truck pulling her P90 with her she held it at her hip, going in front of the truck, Tony climbed out too, keeping behind his open door, he felt the truck shift as Ziva, McGee and Gibbs came out.

Akiva slowly advanced keeping her hand on the trigger, but didn't lift the weapon. When she was within a few feet of the man she stopped. He was taller than her by at least 6 inches, he tilted his head down at her, but remained quiet as she stared at him. Ziva took a step closer to Akiva her weapon aimed over her shoulder at him. She didn't know who this man was but she knew she didn't like him.

The wind breezed rustling the trees and everything moved so fast, Ziva had just blinked. Akiva was no longer in front of her but rather in a standing grappling match with the man, their weapons forgotten on the ground. She hit, he blocked, he struck, she blocked, over and over.

Ziva put her weapon up but she couldn't get a clear shot, suddenly there was a movement in her side vision and she whipped around in time to get a butt of a rifle to the jaw, she staggered back but struck out, making contact. The man in the gilly suit took a step back before lunging forward, his fist going full force into her sternum. Ziva let out a strangled exhale as her sternum cracked, the man took it to his advantage sweeping her ankle sending her to the floor. He quickly sat on her hips pointing a gun in her face.

Gibbs, Tony and McGee were battling their own men in gilly suits. Gibbs managed to get a shot off but the man did not falter as he pushed himself into Gibbs shouldering him hard in the chest. Gibbs wrapped his arms around the man bringing up his knee to the man's chest. He gave a grunt but held onto it leaning forward sending them toppling over.

McGee wasn't as resistant; he hit the ground hard his back pulsing in pain as the man put a knee in between his shoulder blades. McGee whined in the back of his throat as his back writhed with pain. Tony didn't even try as the cold steal of a muzzle went to the back of his neck. He instead kept his eyes on Akiva and the mystery man. Their fighting had now progressed to knives, Akiva would block swipe then guard again, their moves were like a work of choreographed display of the martial arts.

Akiva made a quick jab, but he side stepped her grabbing her arm and spinning it behind her back. His other hand shot to her neck, his thumb went down on a button. The device was clenched in his hand but from what could be seen it looked something close to an EPIpen. Akiva struggled for a few moments, her eyes going from wide, to hooded, the fire behind them going out. She slumped into him, arms falling to her sides, knife kissing the dirt floor.

"Let's move." The man's voice was deep and gruff, he held Akiva around the shoulders pulling her close to him like a one time lover. Her movements were sluggish and jerky as he led her up the dark trail. The other men said nothing and pulled the others to their feet.

The night was dark and the moon only lit their path when the tree cover allowed, leaving most of the journey a mystery. Slowly, they arrived to a dimly lit, very destroyed, military base. They were led through a metal door; it creaked in protest as the man who had escorted Akiva pulled it open; he put his arm back around her shoulder gently guiding her down the stairs. The other soldiers were not so nice as they shoved their captives down the unlit stairs. They walked down an underground hallway for what seemed like hours before a door was opened bathing them in light.

"Strip them and put them in individual cells, we shall return."The man looked over his shoulder into Ziva's eyes, "And don't let the little one out of your sight." The man turned to the left taking Akiva into a room. The men pushed Ziva through the door first, they took them to a small guard post lining them up.

"You first." The man pointed his cougar in her face. Ziva glared at the man, slowly pulling out her weapons and dropping them on the floor. The guard kicked them away and moved his gun up and down motioning to her shirt. Ziva turned her head slightly giving him the best evil eye she could manage, he simple kept his eyes in hers watching her every move. His face was emotionless and hard to see through his camouflage, she felt a cold chill roll through her and she started unbuttoning her jacket. She shrugged it off letting it fall to the ground and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Shirt."

Ziva's mouth opened slightly but then closed it again, she reached to the hem pulling it up slowly over her head, once freed she let the garment fall to the floor. Again she crossed her arms over her chest, her body shivering slightly at the cool stale air of their underground prison. The man tapped the shoulder to the man next to him and the second stepped forward in front of Ziva.

"Arrmus an your 'ead." The man tried a longer sentence his language skills obviously weak, Ziva slowly raised her arms and rested them on her hair interweaving her fingers. The second man who Ziva mentally nicknamed Idiot number 2, approached her slowly pulling her belt loose. Ziva sucked in her stomach trying to keep herself from breaking his neck. Idiot number 2 unbuttoned and then pulled her pants down roughly making her take a step to keep from falling. Idiot #2 pulled them down to her ankles, turning his head around her thin legs looking for more weapons. Ziva wasn't sure if she was insulted or flattered when the man didn't even pass a glance at her underwear. He simply checked her boots then pulled her pants back up pulling the belt tight.

"Hair." Idiot number one barked.

Idiot #2 reached around and pulled roughly at the band in Ziva's hair causing it to snap under the pressure. Her long wavy brown hair fell, and a small piece of metal fell to the floor. Idiot #2 reached down and picked up the small metal device. He showed it to idiot #1 who just shrugged, the guard searching Ziva put it in his pocket and Ziva had to keep herself from growling in frustration.

Idiot #1 grabbed her bare arm in a vice grip pulling her away from the others and down a hallway. He stopped at the first set of iron bars and waved a card over it. He slid the door open pushing her roughly into the cell. So roughly that she hit her knees on the concrete. Ziva rubbed her arm trying to get feeling back into it, she could already see his handprint on her tanned skin.

Idiot #1 returned and stepped back. "You, same." He waved his gun at the three of them, there was still a guard for each of them and they slowly started to unbutton their jackets. The guards quickly searched them then gave them permission to pull their pants back up each one was led into their own individual cells. Tony was across from Ziva, Gibbs was next to Tony and McGee was next to Ziva. Their doors clicked shut and the gilly suited men left the cell block. It was quiet for a few moments as the team shifted in their cells just looking at each other.

Ziva kept her arms crossed over her chest, not just for her modesty but for the fact it was freezing. Tony, Gibbs and McGee were also shirtless; Gibbs had taken up sitting on his metal cot, his older body still chiseled, he wasn't overly muscular just well defined a small set of abs flexing with his every breath.

McGee had obviously been working out, his body was much tighter than what it used to be. He had an impressive, thought only slightly indented, six pack. His body was spattered in bruises and he actually sighed in relief when he put his back against the cool stone wall.

Tony had obviously let himself go, he was not fat by any means, but he was not as fit as the younger agent, his chest was firm and hairy; his stomach flat and smooth with slight indents of abdominal muscles. Tony kept his eyes on Ziva without trying to seem perverted, just watching her reaction as she stood paced, sat, stood, paced. Her scars and lithe body shifting with her every movement, the cut along her back had split open and there were small blood tracks from the scab.

They could hear a door open from down the hall and each one had to resist trying to stick their heads out of the bars, there were two footstep sounds, one hard and calculated, the other muffled and defiantly shuffling. They came to a stop and from the sounds they could tell that they stopped just short of the cell block. Tony did not have to shift his position to see whom was standing there.

"I have good news." The man grinned his face crinkling with his age. He laid a hand on Akiva's shoulder, her eyes were still hooded and lifeless her arms uncharacteristically hanging limp at her sides. The man leaned closed and whispered something in her ear.

"You will not die tonight." Akiva's voice was monotone and robotic, her eyes staying unfocused ahead of her. "You will be of great use when the others arrive." Tony watched her closely looking for any spark, any hint of fire, anything at all. But all he saw where lifeless, soulless eyes staring blankly at something in front of her.

The man leaned close his lips almost touching her ear, "Good girl." Akiva's eyes widened slightly before returning to their previous state. The man circled in front of her starting to unbutton her camouflage jacket. By now all members of team Gibbs had come to their bars and watched in amazement as not only did the man survive touching Akiva, but he actually succeed in removing her jacket.

Ziva bit her lip, not a normal habit for her, but it was to keep her from screaming out at the man who was currently disrobing her protector. The man tossed the jacket over his shoulder before gently tugging her black shirt up her body, he had a bit of trouble when her arms stayed at her sides, but finally succeed when Akiva lifted them on her own, he smiled an awful evil smile, and tossed the shirt over his shoulder with the other.

"Now where to put you?"

Ziva backed away from the bars, pretending to be afraid of Akiva and the man, hoping that he would put her in with her. She backed herself in the corner and curled up in a ball trying to look as small and as fragile as she could. Truthfully, she was afraid, but her anger was over shadowing her fear at the moment and it took all her strength to put them opposite each other; her face twitching with the effort.

The man's cold black eyes turned to Ziva. His mouth formed an awful sneer showcasing his crooked yellow teeth. He looked over at Tony's cell. Tony was trying to stay as calm as possible and he had not backed up from the bars, in fact if the man was just a little closer he could…

The man glanced down at McGee's cell, his face was leaning on the bars, so he could see what was happening. The man gave a slight shake of his head and didn't even bother looking at Gibbs' cell. He sighed slightly to himself before removing a keycard from his pocket, he took Akiva by the hand and gently tugged her over to the cell. Once the door was opened he led her in by her hand as one would when escorting a lady out of a car. He dropped her hand once she was inside and slid the door shut locking it with the same electronic keycard. No locks to pick here, they were screwed.

Akiva simply turned around and looked back into the man's face, arms back limply at her sides.

"Sit. Stay. Do _not_ kill." He waggled a finger at her then flicked his eyes over to Ziva and turned on his heel. His boots echoed through the hallway in an almost deafening manner. Akiva walked herself over to the cot and sat down her hands lying idly on her lap. Ziva didn't want to move until she was sure they were alone.

"_Do not bother to watch them, just stay at the desk. 1-1-A-4 is to have this every 3 hours understood?_" The man spoke in low Russian to a guard around the corner. The man nodded and took the EPIpen from his boss. "_Good. I shall be back in the morning. I must greet my guests."_ The man smiled widely before making his way out of the cell block. The guard just looked down the hallway of prisoners, then to the clock on the wall. The man looked at the EPIpen like device in his hand before tossing it on his desk and plopping himself down behind it. Well, this defiantly ruined his night, he thought to himself.

Ziva heard the Russian translating it roughly in her head, she stood coming to her bars and she looked at Gibbs and Tony across the way.

"The guard's not going to watch us, it was hard to make out but something is going to happen every three hours." Ziva kept her voice hushed just in case the guard did in fact know English. Gibbs and Tony nodded both mulling through escape plans, but most of them involved a guard, with a card key, to come close enough to the bars.

"Do you know that man?" Tony whispered.

"No never seen him before." Ziva looked back at Akiva who was still sitting slumped on her bed staring into space.

"She called him Master when we were in the truck." Tony offered.

"Master?" Ziva and Gibbs' face both scrunched in confusion. But Gibbs brain clicked on a lot faster than hers.

"Who trained her for Mossad?"

"I'm not sure, it was before my time. She was fully trained by 12. I was only two." Ziva explained pulling out her mental filing cabinet trying to find something on Akiva that would be useful.

"Is it normal for the one who trains you to be called master?" Tony quipped, his face in a deep frown of disapproval.

"No…not that I'm aware of."

"What about the experiments they did with her?"

"Huh? Oh you mean when they changed her eye color. She didn't tell me much about it. She was just a child when it happened to her so I didn't want to bring up unwelcome memories." Ziva turned again to Akiva, an odd sensation flowing through her as they talked and talked like she wasn't even there. She had to be there right? She was living and breathing right there in front of her, it was her mind that was gone.

Ziva left the bars going to her knees in front of Akiva. She placed her cool hands on either side of Akiva's gently pulling her face down to look at her. Ziva swallowed as two dark lifeless eyes looked back at her. Wait. Dark? Ziva looked closer; Akiva's blue eye had gone a dark almost midnight blue, her brown eye had the same problem, it was dark almost the color of the pupil. Both eyes were hooded and didn't move as they just stared at whatever was in front of them at the time. Ziva put her finger in between them moving it from one side to the other. Akiva's eyes didn't move, so Ziva moved holding Akiva's head in a gentle but firm grip trying to move it so that their eyes looked directly at one another. When she finally succeeded she waited trying to see anything flash behind Akiva's eyes.

Akiva was reeling in her mind, she felt trapped back in that cold grey cell from her child hood. It was dark and there was no way out. She had tried numerous times, a voice would penetrate her consciousness every now and then and she would feel a shift of her environment but nothing ever was discernable enough to get a grip on what was going on. At first she thought she was dead, locked in a tiny room of hell, but after what seemed like hours she decided that she wasn't going to submit to her fate. She had remembered a sensation like this from before, although not as strong. She could feel herself being touched, and moved and the harder she concentrated when her room finally stopped moving she decided that it was time to concentrate harder. Her dark cell seemed to light slowly parting away revealing a small brown haired girls face. _Ziva._

Ziva's heart leapt when she saw Akiva's eyes flash if only for a moment, and she knew that yes Akiva was there behind those dark eyes. Ziva fell into Akiva pulling her head to her chest just so relieved that Akiva was there, and was fighting to find her.

Tony watched, a sadness coming over him, he wanted to stop Ziva before her heart was too involved. He just wasn't sure how to go about doing it. Sure she would be pissed at him and being in a prison situation was probably not the best. But to hell with it.

"Ziva."

She turned her head letting Akiva go, the concern so strong in Tony's voice that it almost took her off guard, "Yes, Tony?"

"What is sex to you?" Tony tried to make it a light hearted off handed comment, like he was just talking to pass the time, but his eyes and face failed him terribly.

Ziva's face dripped with confusion as her mouth moved slightly, "Why?"

"Well, when you and Akiva-"

"WHAT?" Ziva yelled wincing as her voice echoed off the stone walls. The guard however, was too busy and had a set of headphones on and was reading a porn magazine to notice her little outburst.

"Look, we didn't _see_ it I could smell it." Tony blurted trying to calm the dangerous Israeli, and for once he felt lucky to be behind bars.

Ziva huffed and gave him a glare that should have killed him, if glares had the power to do such a thing. Finally, after taking a few deep breathes to calm herself, she answered, " It is just a psychical release. Something one does to _feel_ Tony, it does not mean anything." Her voice remained steady and calm as her face went impassive.

"But what if you love someone?" Tony pushed.

"I have never, how you say, made love to anyone if that is what you are pushing for." Ziva put her arms around her body. Her upper half was so cold, not just from the cell, but from the dark memories assaulting her senses. So many times she had used sex as a way of procuring information, or completing a mission. It was almost a meaningless act to her now.

"But, don't you love her?"

"Tony! What does it matter? Love is not something that I am willing to risk especially with someone who-" Ziva stopped herself finishing her sentence in her mind; that means too much to me…Truthfully she was afraid to love Akiva, they had made a promise, never to fall in love, and that was a promise that was becoming harder and harder to adhere to. "Just leave me alone…" Ziva whispered defeated, she went to Akiva sitting next to her, taking her cold hand in her warm one. She didn't want to feel right now, numbness was all she wanted.

"Miss Scuito. What have you found so far?" Director Vance entered Abby's lab for the first time that day. Abby still looked a little worse for wear but turned to greet him, plastering a smile on her face.

"Well, I think I figured out who got Oren out of there before the backup teams secured the place."

"You don't sound so sure."

"Well, I'm not. It's more of a hunch really."

"At this point I'll take a hunch."

Abby gave him a smaller smile and turned to her computer pulling up a passport photo.

"Azazel…David?" Director Vance looked close at the picture.

End Chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14.

The guard jumped startling himself from his nap, he quickly looked up at the clock, 5 minutes till. He quickly grabbed a set of handcuffs and the EPIpen. Then made his way down the now silent cell block, he grinned looking in the first cell on the left. The small brown haired woman was sleeping, her head on the taller woman's shoulder. He tapped his gun against the cell, reveling in the startled expression of the woke woman. Ziva lifted her head from Akiva's shoulder rubbing her eyes slightly, then glared at her human alarm clock standing slowly.

The man's eyes drifted up and down her body, an evil sneer of approval on his face, he lifted up the hand cuffs then tossed them into the cell. Ziva bent down slowly making sure to keep her back as straight as possible trying to keep his view as least pleasurable as possible. She snapped one on her wrist noticing that they didn't have a key; she started to put the other on-

"Nyet."

Ziva looked up at the guard who was now motioning with his free hand, pulling it behind his back trying to indicate what he wanted. Ziva rolled her eyes and turned around showing him that she was actually closing them on her wrists; although she didn't make them as tight as possible; so that a simple dislocation of her thumb would free her from the restraints, she turned back around looking at him with guarded eyes.

"No card. No kill." The guard pointed to the corner, Ziva complied sitting on the floor.

"1-1-A-4."

Akiva, who had been sitting, eyes still hooded, looked up at the man. The guard grunted and motioned for her to get up. Her eyes were not as dark by now, and it was obvious that she was struggling to not comply, unfortunately whatever was in her system won out and she stood going over to the bars. The guard waited until she was towering over him then quickly reached through the bars jabbing the pen into her neck. Akiva hissed grabbing a hold of him pulling him against the bars in a death grip. The man's eyes shot open, his gun clattering to the floor from the force of her pull. She growled in his face, her teeth bared. The man pushed the button sending the needle shooting into her neck, his face full of fear.

Then, slowly, her body relaxed, and her hands let go. The guard took a step back grabbing his gun from the floor, aiming it at her.

Akiva's body went lax, her hands falling limply to her sides, eyes clouding over with darkness. The guard squinted his eyes watching the change. Then he looked over to the corner where Ziva had now stood, arms still behind her back. Originally he was going to give her the key to the cuffs, but right now, he wasn't going anywhere near that other woman. He gave her a wide birth as he went back to his desk, making a note to, never, forget to give her that shot again.

Ziva made her way slowly to Akiva nudging her with her shoulder; the taller woman moved back from the force but never looked down.

Gibbs had come to the front of his cell. In fact, he had watched the entire exchange, his brain clicking away. If they could somehow get the guard distracted enough when it was time to give the shot, then they may have a chance. But then again, he didn't have a card key, so what would they do after that? Gibbs ground his teeth.

Ziva pulled one of her hands free of her cuffs, sighing in relief, her jaw was still sore from before and right now all she wanted was an icepack. She touched the tender flesh hesitantly and then touched the wall, it was cool. She made her way over to the cot then leaned her face against the cool wall, sighing in relief, quickly falling back asleep.

Abby was typing away trying to ascertain the last location of Azazel David, his passport was quite old and hadn't been used in quite a long time. What Abby did know was that the man _was_ related to Ziva. He was the second cousin of her father. It took a lot of digging just to find out that little bit of information, she had also found his age, he was older then Eli at 65 and she wondered if the man was even still alive. She couldn't find a death certificate anywhere so she had to assume that he was. The only reason she even thought of this man was because of some old emails that she had found on Oren's computer. Emails that contained files, and files that contained information about Akiva and Ziva's training in Mossad.

"Just one big happy family." Abby grumbled continuing to type away, "Well, Akiva isn't related to any of them, so…" Abby mumbled to herself letting her mind wonder.

A few hours later, Gibbs felt cold all of a sudden; he had been lying on his bunk his eyes closed just trying to conserve his energy, when he felt as if someone was staring at him. Gibbs opened his eyes slightly looking right into the eyes of Dr. Oren, who was smiling back at him from the other side of the bars.

"Well, well, well, this is a surprise." Oren grinned; he was holding the stump of his hand rubbing it while he spoke.

Gibbs stood slowly, advancing to the bars, and even though he wasn't in a suit and his face and body were dirty from the field, he was still as intimidating as ever, his blue eyes cold as ice.

"Oren."

"Ah?"

"Stop teasing our _guests_ we have work to do."

Oren harrumphed and moved away from Gibbs' cell, the back of his neck tingling as Gibbs' eyes followed his movements until he could no longer see him.

"Which one will I get first?" Oren's voice was fainter but still in the room.

"Which one do you want?"

"I want the BITCH who took my hand!" Oren gestured to his stump growling loudly.

"Well, she is mine, pick someone else." The other voice was calm and cool; the words flowing between the walls penetrating their every essence.

"Fine, I'll take Ziva."

"She is also taken."

"Damn, I forgot, when is he to arrive?"

"Tomorrow night."

Oren paced for a few moments, the other man watching him intently, waiting for a decision.

"How about the young one? I'm sure I can break 'im" Oren's mouth widened with glee.

"Go ahead."

Oren took the card key from the man then grabbed a nearby guard leading them down to McGee's cell. Oren swiped the card over the door lock sliding it open. McGee looked up from his bunk in terror, before the guard slapped a set of hand cuffs on his wrists and dragged him out and down the hallway. Oren smiled at Gibbs before following.

Ziva watched as McGee was lead away wondering just who was coming for her, she watched as the man known as 'Master' took the key card back from Oren then went to her cell.

"1-1-A-4-"

"She has a name!" Ziva shouted coming to the bars, keeping her arms behind her trying to feign like she was still cuffed.

"That _thing_ is not worth a name, _it_ is merely a scientific failure." Master growled leaning in close to Ziva.

"She is a human being!" Ziva shouted, some of her spit hitting him in the face. Calmly he wiped a hand over his face, his cold dark eyes looking back at her full of apathy.

"It is nothing more than a lab rat. To be killed when its purpose is served."

Ziva could feel tears stinging her eyes, but she swallowed them down, "What have you done to her?"

"That is none of your concern."

Ziva unclasped her hands pulling them through the bars and grabbing at the man, just like Akiva had with the guard, only she wasn't quite strong enough to pin him to it.

"Temper, temper." He chided grabbing her hands, his thumb pushing between her bones causing her grip to falter. Ziva bit back a whimper as he pressed down harder, pulling her hands further away from the bars and off of his jacket. The man looked down at the hand cuff dangling off of one of her wrists, then smiled. He slammed her against the bars dragging her hands up, there was a crossbar just above her head and she struggled to pull free as he pulled her hands upward. Unfortunately, he was much bigger and stronger and he succeeded in handcuffing her hands over the bar. He released her and chuckled as she pulled back trying to slip her hands free. But he had tightened the cuffs so much that all she ended up doing was chaffing her already bruised wrists.

Akiva had stood but didn't advance as their scuffle took place. Mentally, she had not seen any of it, and therefore had no idea that Ziva was even in danger, the drugs in her system were successfully clouding her vision and her mind.

Master took a step back from the cell, watching in approval as Ziva huffed and tugged trying to free herself. She was making quite a scene, his eyes wandered up and down her body, she was shirtless and from the angle she was cuffed, her breasts were pressed against the bars. Master let his mind wonder for a few moments before he looked over to Akiva.

"1-1-A-4 come." Akiva came to the door waiting for it to slide open. Once open, he offered his hand which she hesitantly took. Master sneered back at Ziva who had currently stopped struggling, and idea popped into his head. Time to add insult to injury, he thought gleefully. Master stepped back pulling Akiva with him sliding the cell door closed once more. He then took his hand under her chin lifting it up and with a quick glance at Ziva he leaned down and pressed his lips to Akiva's.

Ziva yelled and struggled against her cuffs. The kiss only lasted a few seconds and was not reciprocated but the message was clear. Akiva would to _anything_ he told her to and that was enough for Ziva to run hot with hatred.

"Azazel you coming?" Oren called.

"Ah." Azazel put his arm around Akiva's bare shoulders guiding her down the hallway to the interrogation rooms.

End Chapter.


	15. Chapter 15

An: Thank you for all the reviews, they really help me make sure that my story is not confusing, although it is complicated. :)

Chapter 15.

Ziva sighed and slumped against the bars, her body was sore; her muscles ached from the familiar positioning of her hands. She shifted, her chest felt tight and uncomfortable; she had forgotten to pop it after the soldier had cracked it again. Now she was stuck, standing with her arms slightly above her head. Great, she thought, just fucking great.

"Ziva?"

"Yea, Gibbs?"

"We need a plan."

Ziva snorted and turned the best she could, looking down the block at him, "You got one?"

"Gonna' need your help."

Ziva raised her eyebrow a small smile coming to her face.

"Now, Timothy. Is it ok that I call you Timothy?" Oren's voice was sickly sweet as he circled him. McGee was sitting in a cold metal chair, his hands now cuffed behind his back with zip ties; he didn't look up keeping his gaze at the floor. He wasn't sure what was going to happen but he was bound and determined not to tell him anything.

"What happened to your back Timothy?" Oren stopped circling sitting in a chair across from him.

"mmofing." McGee mumbled.

"Must be something. It's all black and blue."

"Fell."

"Ah, from what? It's awful big to have just tripped." Oren grinned rubbing his five o'clock shadow.

McGee shrugged deciding that he had already said too much.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Azazel was looking over a table at Akiva. He had a file in front of him and was just flipping through it, casually glancing up now and then to watch her reaction. He had decided that it would be best to put her through a crash course of obedience. His computer was playing videos from her past, her eyes flittered across the screen watching and listening to the words.

Inside Akiva was pacing in her mental cell, pushing on the walls, pounding her fists. She had almost seen light when suddenly it became dark again. Now she knew she wasn't in hell. In fact, she could almost feel Ziva being hurt. It was an odd sensation, one she had never felt before, or at least something her mind would never let her feel before. It hurt in her chest, making her fall to knees crying out in agony. She was so frustrated, she felt like she was getting weaker and weaker in her own mind. Right now, she was lying on the warm floor of her mental cell, curling into the fetal position. She wanted out so bad, the pain in her chest was taking over her, was this what Tony was whining about in the car? If it was love why was it so painful?

Ziva felt the blood in her arms draining down, her hands and fingers already numb, her legs were so tired. She sighed deeply, shifting herself leaning back into the bars trying to keep her legs from going asleep as well. She felt so bad for McGee, she wished that they would just take her instead. McGee wasn't trained for torture and neither was Tony. She still wasn't sure what they wanted, if it was Legacy they were screwed because even though they knew where it was, they didn't have it with them.

Tony had finally woken back up, his stomach growling with hunger. He had also noticed Ziva's predicament wondering what happened. Gibbs poked his head around his bars hearing Tony shift.

"DiNozzo?"

"Yea?"

"We have a plan."

Tony came to his bars turning his head towards his boss.

Azazel closed the laptop pulling it away from Akiva, her eyes stopped flicking, going to his face, awaiting more instructions.

"Now, 1-1-A-4, you've stolen something." He put his hands on the desk leaning forward, his warm breath against her face, "And I want to know where it is."

"What?" Her voice was a whisper and her hands twitched under the table.

"Legacy." Azazel stood up going behind her putting his warm calloused hands on cold her shoulders.

Akiva could feel herself being touched, but try as she might she couldn't remove the hands that were burning her like fire. She could hear wisps of voices, echoing around her cell, to faint and mumbled to make out. She screamed hitting her fists on anything she could reach.

"I have it."

"Yesss, where is it?" Azazel whispered his lips touching her ear.

"DC."

"Where, exactly?" Azazel tried to keep his voice calm, his grip tightening on her shoulders.

"NCIS." Akiva's voice remained hollow and quiet, her eyes starting to dart around the room.

"You gave it to the Americans?" Azazel shouted gripping her shoulders tightly. He closed his eyes tightly taking a calming breath.

"No."

"Excellent. How do I find it?"

"D-dog t-tags." Akiva's voice faltered, her internal self was starting to gain control.

Azazel, squeezed her shoulders hard, murmuring in Hebrew and smiled when she relaxed and leaned back into him. Yes, he still had control, but the little chit was fighting it, she had too much fire in her. He knew it was only a matter of time before the medication would no longer work, and he would have to move on to something else.

So close! Akiva let out a growl of frustration; all she could see was a computer and what looked like an interrogation room. She had felt hands on her shoulders but wasn't able to turn her head. She smiled to herself, she was winning, soon she would be free and she could get Ziva out of there.

Azazel could hear a scream of pain come from the other room and frowned. Oren could be so hot headed sometimes; growling he left Akiva locking the door behind him and going to the other 'interrogation' room. He slammed the door open causing the already bruised man in the chair to jump.

"What are you doing?" Azazel growled, taking notice of the small amount of blood on the floor.

"He wasn't talking."

Azazel snorted, "I thought you were good at interrogation?"

"I had men for that! Good men!"

"Where are they?"

"Your little scientific experiment killed them!"

Azazel laughed loudly turning and leaving the room, "That's what I trained her for!" He called back.

Oren huffed and kicked McGee's shin causing the younger man to groan slightly.

"_Take him away._" Oren huffed and left heading down a different hallway. The guard who had been standing in the corner pulled McGee up roughly causing him to misstep and fall to his knees. The guard groaned at the drop in height before pulling on McGee's bound arms, effectively dragging McGee back down to the cell block.

Ziva, Tony and Gibbs looked up from their hushed conversation; quickly bringing it to a close, as they watch McGee come shuffling back. His nose was bloody but otherwise didn't look worse for wear. Gibbs sighed in relief feeling as if a weight had been temporarily lifted from his chest.

The guard stopped at his cell, then pulled out what looked like a radio, "_Cell, 4" _he murmured in Russian, there was a click then the door slid open and the guard dropped McGee into the cell. McGee quickly recovered and stood looking at the man.

"Turn." McGee turned and presented his hands to the guard who quickly pulled out a combat knife snapping the zip tie then kicked out at McGee's severely bruised back. McGee crumpled to the ground, biting his cheek to keep from screaming. The guard chuckled and slid the door shut once more.

"Hey!" Ziva shouted pulling on her cuffs, "Please unlock these…" The guard glanced over but didn't stop. Ziva growled and hit her head on the bars, great, she thought, just freaking great. Ziva pulled on the hand cuffs in anger, the pain she felt no longer reaching her nerves.

"Oh do behave, your father wouldn't like it very much if you were damaged beyond repair by his arrival."

Ziva stopped struggling her body going cold, what did he just say?

Azazel, led Akiva back in front of their cell. He pulled out his card key then slid open the door, he gently pushed Akiva in then slid the door shut again.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're father. He's coming." Azazel got really close to her face, his mouth opening in an evil crooked smile.

"W-why?"

Azazel just smiled wider, his eyes glittering with blackness.

"See you in three days! I'm taking a trip to NCIS!" Azazel laughed menacingly before disappearing down another hallway.

Ziva's eyes widened and she looked over at Akiva, "What did you tell them?"

Akiva just stood there looking down at the floor, her arms limp once more at her sides. Ziva was pissed, she grabbed a hold of the bars for support then kicked out at Akiva. She managed to land a pretty strong kick to Akiva's thigh, so strong in fact, that it sent Akiva to the floor and into the metal cot. Ziva's eyes widened in shock, she was tired, hungry, and extremely agitated and not only that; she had just kicked Akiva, _successfully._ Akiva laid where she fell, her head starting to bleed from a small cut from an unsoldered joint on the bed.

"Oh my…Akiva…I'm sorry." Ziva pulled on her cuffs wanting to go to Akiva's aid.

"What goin' 'an?" The guard came around the desk hearing the commotion, he knew he wasn't supposed to watch them, but he didn't think he was allowed to let them kill each other either. The guard's eyes widened at the sight of the larger woman on the floor, he quickly schooled in his face looking at Ziva's current position.

The guard watched as a small drop of blood ran down Ziva's wrist, forearm then dipped into her arm pit stopping at the seam of her bra. This would never do, he had strict orders not to let her hurt herself. He sighed and pulled out a clicker, his fun would have to wait until later, the other woman appeared to be well sedated and relatively unharmed, besides he didn't have a key to the cell, so he couldn't go in even if he wanted to. He took a few steps back making sure he was well away from both cells, as Tony was at his bars as well and he didn't want to fight the large man, he knew that they were becoming dehydrated and hungry and when people were like that they got a little, desperate. He raised the little black remote pointing it at the cuffs, after a small click they sprung free and Ziva collapsed to the ground with a sigh of relief. While she was getting her bearings he quickly grabbed the cuffs and nearly ran back to his desk.

Ziva moaned as the feeling came back to her arms, she lay where her tired legs left her just leaning against the cold bars. Tony watched with hooded eyes, his hunger and lack of sleep starting to get to him. But they had a plan and he would need to be alert for it. It pained him so much to watch Ziva and Akiva fall apart. He had thought watching Ziva be beaten was bad but this emotional rollercoaster was more devastating than anything he had ever witness her go through.

Gibbs was laying on his bunk looking up at the ceiling, he heard the commotion from Ziva and he had closed his eyes tightly. He was letting his team down. He felt so useless, and he felt angry at Akiva but more so at Vance. It was Vance's fault they even started this mess. Then again, it was more of Oren's planning wasn't it? But he didn't seem smart enough to pull something this complicated off. No someone else was behind the scenes. He had heard Azazel whispering something to Ziva it was hard to make out but he knew that tomorrow they would have another visitor. A new fear washed over him as he thought of Abby. She had the evidence, the dog tags and the key they would all be in her lab, Azazel would have to get to her to get them. He just hoped Abby, as smart as she was, figured it out and knew to be ready.

Vance paced in his office, the new information was running through his mind, he was fighting with himself on whether or not he should call Director David and ask if he knew the man of interest. He knew that America and Israel were allies but he didn't want to push their friendship. Again, however, he did send his best team on a mission into Russia and they weren't the best allies with America. He wasn't sure what to do, he lifted a toothpick up to his mouth absently chewing on it. What to do…suddenly his phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Sir! Azazel David's passport was just used! He is taking a private jet into Canada!" Abby's voice was loud as she yelled into the phone making Vance hold the phone away from his ear.

End Chapter.

An: Let me know what you think! I promise, Akiva and Ziva will be back at their kick ass level soon!


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Sorry it's been so long! I picked up a lot of shifts these week and I haven't had time to sit down. That an I almost had a very personal connection with a tree, a transformer and an antique firehose while driving my car. Hope you like it!

Chapter 16.

It had been about 2 hours since the departure of Azazel and Gibbs knew it was the calm before the storm, he just didn't know when exactly everything should fall into place. Tony was lying on his bunk his body exhausted from lack of food and water, so much so, that he was tempted to drink from the toilet and probably would have done so by know if the water in the toilet hadn't been a murky brown color. No sense in humiliating and killing himself he thought. McGee was pacing trying not to grind his teeth to much as his back pulsed. Ziva had lifted Akiva onto their cot and although her eyes were open nobody was home. Ziva leaned against the bunk as she rested on the floor, her body was humming in pain her mind too sleep deprived and her stomach too hungry to really form any kind of coherent thought.

The guard was relaxing reading his favorite porn magazine when he looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. A smile creased his face as he saw his friend, and his friend was carrying a keycard. He took his feet off his desk already getting excited, he had told his friend that they had prisoners and now they were both going to get sated. The other guard was a tall pale man with sandy blonde hair. He wasn't muscular but his height still gave him a great advantage. Finally, he approached the guard desk slapping the keycard down happily.

"_Alek." _

"_Kuzma." The guard behind the desk smiled stuffing his magazine in the desk._

"_How many are there?" _

"_Two but I wouldn't touch the other one." Alek warned. _

"_Ok, we take turns yea?" Kuzma rubbed his hands together looking down the cell block. _

"_Yea." _

Suddenly voices could be heard, the guards frowned, the prisoners were arguing about something. They waited a few moments, they couldn't really understand the conversation it was too fast and the tones were very slurred. They could tell it was between a female and a male. They both looked at each other wondering if they were talking about escaping. There was a loud frustrated scream and that seemed to motivate them as they both took off towards the cell block. Alek grabbed the hand cuffs and keycard, just in case.

Back at the cell block Tony and Ziva had come to the bars, it had started out as an innocent enough conversation and had now exploded into a full blown argument. Both of them were hot under the collar as they screamed at each other through their bars.

"You have no idea what it's like! That's why it would never work. You always whine about how mommy died when you were 8 and daddy was a rich liar. You know where I was when my Mom's funeral was being held? Stuffed in a car off to Mossad training! You have no idea what true hardship is! You grew up in America Tony! I grew up in a war zone!" Ziva huffed her anger finally boiling over, "And you accuse Akiva of leading into this! You are an idiot Tony! You know nothing!"

"Then why was she all buddy buddy with this guy?" Tony yelled back leaning into his bars.

"She's drugged!"

"Oh really, you know what I think? I think this was some elaborate ploy so you could go back to your daddy!" Tony snapped his mouth shut, his eyes opening in terror.

Ziva whipped around pushing herself against the bars to her cell. "I hate you. When this is over, I hope your dead!"

Tony's mouth shut with an audible pop, his eyes wide, that-that hurt, he felt exhaustion hitting him full force and he slumped to the floor.

Ziva huffed and turned her back to him, she was really pissed. Her body was pulsing with what little adrenaline she had left, but it quickly dissipated and she leaned her back against the bars. Alek and Kuzma looked between each other then back at the two fighting agents. They had defiantly missed something. Regardless, they were too excited about their plan, Kuzma pulled out his hand gun tapping it on his thigh. Ziva heard the click of metal and turned her head slightly looking at the two guards. Her face went pale; the look in their eyes, she had seen it before. She knew she was on their menu, her eyes quickly darted to Akiva who sat on the bed with hollow eyes. Shit, she thought, there's two of them and one of me, this isn't going to end well. Kuzma moved first, quickly holstering his weapon and slipping his arms through the bars, Ziva tried to move away but her body was so tense that her feet felt like lead. The man grabbed her arms quickly, pulling them through the bars, Alek quickly came round and tightened the cuffs on her abused wrists. Ziva cursed in Hebrew trying to pull her hands free before the cuff was tightened too much but Alek was quicker, he clamped his hands down tightening the cuffs as far as they would go.

Tony stood coming to his bars, but the men were too far away, he knew something was different, something was wrong. He could feel it. Tony looked around for anything, anything he could use as a weapon, but everything in the cell was bolted down. The toilet had no seat or tank, the bed no sheets or pillow and it was bolted to the floor. He rushed from corner to corner looking for anything.

Kuzma pulled down on her wrists bringing her in close contact with the bars his face was now close to hers, he inhaled deeply, eliciting a shudder from the small woman. He grinned showing his stained yellow teeth. Oh, yes. He was going to enjoy this. Alek glanced over at the taller woman who still remained vacantly staring on the bed. Not his type, too tall, and muscular, now this other woman, was just right. He grinned looking back at Ziva. He knew that the larger woman was no threat as he slid the keycard over the door effectively unlocking it. He handed the key back to Kuzma who had finally let go of Ziva.

"_I'll be back in one hour, yea?" _

"Da." Alek looked at his watch then watched as Kuzma spit at Tony before sauntering back down the cell block. He opened the door and stepped through pulling it closed behind him.

Gibbs had come to his bars hearing the exchange in Russian their plan was now ruined, he hadn't expected two guards, he cursed inwardly watching helplessly as Alek put his hands on either side of Ziva's face effectively pinning her in, his knee going roughly between her legs.

Ziva let out a grunt and raised her chin looking him square in the eyes, her eyes shining with a shielded defiance. She would not let him win, her jaw clenched as he sneered at her and licked his lips.

Tony felt his body getting weaker as he ran around his cell, his body was slowing down. The cold and dehydration was finally catching up to him, the last thing he saw before his body collapsed on the floor was Alek forcing a kiss on Ziva's lips.

Gibbs couldn't see much from his vantage but he could tell they were too close for his comfort. He yelled out screaming in random Russian words, but his voice was dry and cracked when he spoke. The guard ignored him and moved down Ziva's body his hands roughly gripping at her bare skin. Gibbs growled and stopped his voice quickly going horse, he felt himself breaking inside, he looked over to McGee who had passed out some time ago, his body was barely moving up and down with each breath, he knew their exposure to the cold was getting to all of them but he was determined not to let it get to him. Instead, he watched with hate filled eyes as the guard starting biting at Ziva's bare shoulders.

Ziva held her breath counting in her head just trying to think about anything else. Her gaze squarely on the cold stone wall over the man's shoulder; her body was so numb that she could barely feel him bite her. She could tell he was biting her though as his thick saliva warmed her numb body. His leg remained between her legs lifting her up off the ground slightly. She wanted so bad to kick out but she fear that doing so would cause her to fall and she defiantly wanted to be on her feet; she didn't want him to get anymore ideas.

Akiva was rolling in agony on the floor of her mental cell, she felt as if the pain in her chest was going to split her apart. She clawed at her chest, feeling as if there was a fire raging within her the wind fueling the fire wroth with razor blades. It was more intense than anything she had ever felt before, her internal monologue was swirling around her like a tornado so fierce she couldn't tell what was where. Her eyes were clenched so tight, as sound started to pierce through her mental void. The pain increased but she forced her eyes open. There was a small slip of light coming through one of the walls. The vision was distorted and blurry but she knew that mane of brown hair anywhere. _Ziva! _Her mental self cried in anguish her hand unconsciously reaching out for the image. She needed to get to her, she was in trouble. Ziva _needed_ her. She swore to protect her. She needed to free herself. The pain in her chest increased as she stood on shaky legs. Suddenly her whole world flooded with blindingly white light.

Ziva's yelled out in pain as the man ground his leg into her hip bone, but he didn't stop he just kept rubbing it back and forth harder and harder his body pressed to hers as he was getting himself ready. Ziva's eyes flicked to Akiva. Ziva pulled in a sharp breath as she watched Akiva's eyes clench shut, her hands twitching at her sides. _Yes!_ Ziva screamed in her head. Come to me, please Akiva, I need you, please…

Akiva opened her eyes, quickly scanning her new surroundings, she wasn't in the dark mental cell, no, she was in a real cell. Akiva's eyes quickly met Ziva's and her chest tightened. Akiva stood slowly, her mind and body slowly reconnecting. It felt heavy, as if she had just woken from a very long sleep. She flexed her fingers trying to get the feeling back in them. The guard took no notice of her as he kept grinding away at Ziva's small frame. Akiva lifted her feet carefully, making sure to make no sound as she crept closer to the man. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't strike, not yet, she couldn't control her body perfectly yet.

Akiva made her way unnoticed by the man, who had, by now, stopped grinding and had started fiddling with Ziva's belt. Ziva bit her lip and looked into Akiva's eyes. They were still dark and clouded but there appeared to be something floating underneath. She swallowed, she just hoped it was enough.

Ziva let out a small yelp as her belt was slipped roughly through her belt loops the tugging motion pulled her from the bars with such force she felt like a rubber band when the belt finally came free and she slammed back again.

Akiva was still fighting the darkness, it etched around her vision, her body felt like it was filled with sand suddenly she could feel the darkness closing back in around her and she started to panic in her mind.

Ziva watched in horror as the light behind Akiva's eyes started to die out, she felt a sob in her throat, not for the man currently trying to unbutton her pants, but for the woman who was always her pillar of strength; her leader; her hero; her…lover…Ziva let out a strangled cry of pain, frustration and anguish, when it had started she was too tired to fight, now she wasn't fighting for herself, she was fighting for _them. _

Alek's hand whipped out and the back of his hand landed squarely across her cheek, she had been quiet thus far and he was going to keep it that way. His mind was running through his own fantasies, and number one in his fantasy the woman is always, silent. Alek tugged the rest her pants lower on her hips his eyes going to a fresh cut; man, he thought, this woman sure has a lot of scars. He shrugged to himself pulling at his own pants, sex was sex and anything would be better than his hand tonight. He pulled out his overly abused member and started stroking it softly just looking over her body, he used his free hand and gripped her hair lifting her head. He didn't care where her eyes went, he just wanted to look at that pretty face of hers, he growled as he felt himself get harder, he was almost ready.

Ziva watched Akiva's eyes they were getting darker, fear crept up her spine, she was too tired to fight him alone, she needed help. She needed her. Ziva felt the man's calloused hands stroke her sex and her mind snapped back to him, his fingers where rough and coarse, and she most defiantly wanted this to end now.

"Tasukete!" Ziva yelled out her voice foreign to her own ears, the guard jumped back slightly from her sudden outburst.

"_What-" _His slurred Russian was cut off when an icy hand griped the back of his neck. Oh, shit, he thought, he let go over his member and tried to turn away but the other was faster. He saw stars as that cold hand slammed him against the bars by his throat, he let out a few gasping breaths before he felt himself being pulled back and then slammed into them again this time, his world met black.

Akiva felt the man slump in her grip and let him fall to the floor. Angrily she picked him up again and threw him, quite impressively, into the toilet causing his head to slit open like a watermelon. Akiva couldn't see, it was still dark behind her eyes, but she knew she needed to find Ziva. She paced looking around at the different walls, at times looking right past Ziva.

Ziva watched as Akiva paced, she responds to my voice, she thought. Ziva licked her dry lips, "Akiva." Her voice was just above a whisper as her last little outburst had coast her much of her speaking ability. Ziva took a shuddering breath, "I n-need you." Akiva had stopped pacing her head turning slightly at her voice. Ziva felt her heart pulse her emotions aching from the torment. She never wanted Akiva to be left alone like this, treated this way. Never she-"I love you."

Akiva felt her chest explode in a warmth she had never felt before it was like tiny little fireworks were going off inside her body, slowly her vision cleared and she saw Ziva slumped against the bars half naked, pants halfway down her thighs. Akiva let out a sigh of relief quickly going over to her. Never mind the face that Ziva's hands were behind her still Akiva pulled her into the best hug she could, given the circumstances, it felt so good to see her again. She had most assuredly thought that Ziva was gone and Akiva was meant to live a life of pain and death.

"What did you say?" Akiva's voice was hushed but not in danger of being lost, she unlike the rest of them had been given small amounts of water during her interrogations.

Ziva's eyes brimmed with tears a small crooked smile forming on her face, "I love you."

End Chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17.

Ziva's smile faltered as Akiva's face slid into a stoney mask, she had stepped away from Ziva her eyes narrowed her mouth in a thin line.

No you don't, you lik-love the idea of me. Akiva thought, nothing more. Akiva looked away from Ziva stepped over to the dead guard, she rifled through his pockets pulling out a radio and a small clicker, she pointed the clicker at Ziva and the handcuffs released. Ziva let out a sigh of relief and brought her arms back around to face her, gently rubbing at her raw wrists. Her heart was beating in her ears at Akiva's silence, her heart was aching; pulling herself up, she swallowed down the pain of rejection. She wouldn't let it get to her, she couldn't let it get to her. Not now, not here.

Akiva stood her eyes furrowed as she played with the radio clicking between frequencies. Ziva rubbed her arms trying to get some warmth in them; Akiva noticed, her eyes racking up and down Ziva's current appearance. Her hair was a right mess, her body had gone pale from the temperature of the room, her breathing was slow and calculated, her eyes lidded. She looked back at the man who had bled out on the floor, she clipped the radio on her pants rolling him over, she quickly unbuttoned his jacket and rolled him pulling his arms out. It was bloody and dirty but it would have to do, Akiva walked back to Ziva offering it.

Ziva quickly grabbed it pulling the large jacket over her, it hung about mid thigh but it was warm. Oh, so blessedly warm. The lining was different then their jackets and felt like it was a type of fleece. Seeing as right now she couldn't have cared; Ziva wrapped herself up in it her fingers, too numb to bother with the buttons. However, his blood was still wet and had smeared itself in her hair making it clump together.

"Thank you." Ziva whispered as she felt her limbs nerves returning.

"Ah." Akiva said dismissively pulling the radio back out, she walked over to the door and looked at the little light on the lock. She started typing in different frequencies pushing the call button every time. Ziva watched over her shoulder, so to speak, in fascination.

140.01…140.52…141.24…144.06…147.59…149.53...Akiva growled in frustration before clicking it a few more times, 144.75, there was an audible click and the light on the cell went from red to green. She smirked and slid the door wide open.

Akiva poked her head out looking down the long hallway leading away from the cell block, she could hear footsteps but she couldn't see the owner. She snaked out creeping quietly along the far wall, they were coming from her left, she kept herself pressed to the wall as she slithered closer to the hallway entrance. Ziva watched her, arms still wrapped up in the warm jacket, she knew that stance, that was a don't move, or I'll kill you myself stance. Akiva bent her knees slightly leaning against the wall so that whoever it was couldn't see her in their peripheral vision when they rounded the corner.

The footsteps were louder and each one felt like a knife stabbing into Ziva, it's one thing to be stealthy and take a out a few targets it's another thing completely to have an entire military base after you; especially when you are unarmed.

The man finally rounded the corner, it was Kuzma, Alek's hour was up and now he was randy as hell, he had warmed up with a nice flick on his computer. He rubbed his hand over his crotch, oh yea, she was going to be nice.

Akiva jumped up and knocked the man sideways, she punched him quickly cracking his head into the concrete floor. Kuzma was dazed but started to struggle as Akiva landed another blow to his face. Her fists were bigger than his and much harder, she blocked his feeble attempts and finally landed the kill shot. A rather nice blow to his temple, immediately he stopped struggling his body going limp. Akiva crawled off of him and sneered at the bulge in his pants. She started to turn, then as an afterthought, stomped down real hard on that bulge causing his body to twitch from the movement, and she grinned going back down to the cell block.

Ziva let out a sigh of relief running a hand through her hair, she looked around at the other cells, Tony was still passed out, Gibbs too had slumped onto his cot, Ziva stepped out turning a little as she looked at McGee, his back was still bruised and his body was curled tightly in a ball, she could see tiny shivers ripple through him every few seconds.

Akiva lifted the radio to each of the cells, sliding the doors open, frowning when the occupants did not move. When she reached McGee's she felt saddened slightly at his psychical state. She looked at the downed guard then back at him, quickly she pulled the jacket off Kuzma and entered McGee's cell.

"They need food and water. They're should be some in one of the rooms around the corner." Akiva looked over her shoulder at Ziva, "Be careful, take his weapon." She pointed to Kuzma that was still by the hallway entrance.

Did as instructed holding the old cougar in her hand; Ziva opened the first room and signed in relief when she found it empty of personnel, it was however, filled with different kinds of rations and water bottles. She quickly grabbed a bottle of water for each of them then stuffed some Calorie Mates into her cargo pants. Slowly she reopened the door, finding the hallway clear she quickly made her way back to the cell block.

Ziva started with Tony who's body was curled up on the floor, she leaned down to him gently cradling his head in her lap, she opened the bottle of water gently pressing it to his lips. Tony's eyes opened wide for a moment as he sputtered, then he quickly gulped down the offered water. Ziva absently pet his head in a soothing manor as he drank the bottle dry.

Akiva managed to get McGee in a slumped sitting position, the coat having an amazing effect, his eyes were open and he was watching her intently, he wasn't sure if she was still drugged or not but he could tell by her gentle touches that she currently meant him no harm.

Tony sat up looking at Ziva, she gave him a small woeful smile. She didn't look any worse for wear, and she was wearing a coat now, Tony furrowed his eyebrows then turned his head towards her cell, he gulped when he saw the man's head split open and his shirt gone. His member flaccid and bent slightly underneath him; Tony grinned. Never even got the chance.

Ziva pulled out a box from her pants ripping it open, she handed the small rectangular package to him. It was about the size of an old cell phone. "It's food, eat it slowly." Ziva pushed herself up from the floor with some effort taking the other bottles of water with her.

Tony opened the package slowly, it looked like a type of candy bar, although it was brown in color, he raised it to his nose smelling it. Well it smelled like chocolate, he took a hesitant bite at the small dry bar and winced. Didn't taste like chocolate he was used to, more like solidified cheap knock off hot chocolate mix.

Ziva entered Gibbs cell and sat next to him on his cot. He was facing away from her and had curled up slightly his armed wrapped tightly around himself.

"Gibbs." Ziva laid a gentle hand on his bare shoulder gently shaking him.

There was a muffled groan but nothing more and Ziva became concerned, she stood gently guiding him onto his back. His body remained curled so it made it rather difficult but after a few more tries she finally got him flat enough on his back to look at his face. She frowned at the blue lips and pale complexion she knew he was older than them all and this had to be taking more out of him. She quickly extracted her coat, now feeling very warm, and put it over him, gently rubbing to cause more friction and heat him up faster.

Akiva came over from McGee's cell, with him slowly following behind her on shaky legs, she reached down and picked up a discarded water bottle handing it to McGee.

"Drink slowly."

McGee nodded and fumbled with the cap slightly before removing it and taking a few shallow sips. Tony finally pulled himself from his cell and stood next to McGee feeling a hell of a lot better now that he had eaten that thing, Ziva had given him. He looked into the box in his hand noticing there was one more package, he quickly pulled it out and handed it over to McGee; who just looked at him curiously.

"It's food. It tastes like shit, looks like shit, but it makes you feel wonderful."

McGee winced at Tony's tactless words as he opened the package, it did look rather, odd; but his he was too hungry to care, and brought it up to his lips taking a small bite. Tony snickered at the grimace but said nothing as his attention turned towards Ziva and Gibbs.

Gibbs could feel someone moving him, and rubbing him with something very soft, and warm. His mind was a little foggy and pulsed as the right amount of blood flow going to his organs increased with the temperature. Slowly, his eyes cracked open and a smirk graced his lips as the very worried brown eyes of Ziva came into view.

Ziva sighed in relief, she hadn't lost him, thank the all the possible Gods in the heavens above. She turned away from his line of vision bending down slightly and grabbing a water bottle. She held it up to his eyes and watched as he attempted to sit up. Akiva stepped in at the point and helped lift Gibbs into a suitable position for drinking. He mumbled a thank you and took the bottle in a shaky hand before drinking its contents slowly, the water immediately easing his sore throat.

"Thank you." Gibbs looked into Akiva's eyes, both of them silently exchanging what they both knew neither of them needed to be said. Gibbs knew without a doubt that Akiva had protected Ziva and his team, without thinking about the consequences to herself; and Akiva knew that Gibbs would return the favor and that she had finally earned his trust.

"Azazel left, he said he was going to NCIS." Ziva whispered glancing at Akiva briefly.

Gibbs took another sip of his water looking over at Akiva his eyes steeling over.

"I don't know. I can't remember anything it's all a bit fuzzy right now." Akiva rubbed at her temples, it was like waking from a dream, only her conscious self had been locked inside a cell in her subconscious had created, it was mind boggling. "I do know that we need to get out of here and fast. I'm not sure where we are exactly, I know we can't be too far off track, but it had taken us about 3 days to get here and we have spent at least 3 days in captivity. So unless we can luck out and find another vehicle we need to get moving back to the pickup point."

Ziva frowned, it didn't feel like three days in captivity, in fact it only felt like a few hours, but she wasn't sure how long she had slept when she had eventually passed out. She had to trust Akiva, even though she knew that she also was guessing. They needed their equipment; it had their time table on it, and everything they would need to make a successful extraction.

Ziva pulled out another box of Calorie Mates and ripped it open she handed one package to Gibbs and finally took one for herself. She opened the pack and offered one of the bars to Akiva who just shook her head and refused to take it. Sighing slightly to herself she ate the dry horrible chocolate flavored bar.

Azazel stepped off his private jet casually looking around taking a breath of the fresh Canadian air. It had been almost 3 decades since he had been out of the country, and that was only to perform scientific experiments some governments would never admit to. He grinned, he was their dirty little secret, countries all over the world sent him children to train, to manipulate, to _change_. All in the quest to create the perfect solider; he snorted. Perfect solider, none of them had showed any promise, except one, the only female, she was his favorite toy. He loved breaking her and building her back up only to tear her down again. It was just so easy in the beginning. But slowly, ever so slowly, with chemicals and mental manipulation she came close. Oh, so close, to becoming the perfect soldier.

Azazel pulled out his phone opening a text message, " Just arrived, will be meeting soon. Thanks again old friend.-Eli David" Azazel smirked and snorted, anytime, _friend._ He was no one's friend. In fact, he would be very happy to see Eli David dead; that stupid man lost him Akiva, and ruined any chance he had at creating the perfect solider. The man was too arrogant, and blinded by power, he wanted his daughter to be just like Akiva, but he didn't have the balls to do what it really took to create Akiva.

Azazel stepped into the waiting town car, he pulled his coat tighter around him. " Ohio. S'il vous plait." With a nod the driver started the car and pulled away.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18.

The team made their way swiftly and quietly through the tunnels. They had now each acquired an ill fitting jacket, gun and knife as well as keycards level 1-5 they only needed a level six now and they would be able to backtrack to the door they came in from and reach the outside. There were no windows and the temperature remained cold, they could only assume that the entire complex was hidden underground. They had gone through searching room to room, looking for any of their equipment, to no avail. Apparently, the soldiers had split their gear among themselves, as they came across two soldiers who had their GPS and tracking equipment. After quickly and quietly taking out the guards and stuffing them into a closet or other nearby out of the way hiding place; they set about trying to find one of them with a level six keycard. So far the task had been more laborious than deadly. They only came across one or two soldiers at a time, making quick work of them and moving on. The whole team felt a great swell of relief that the base's alarm system had not gone off and alerted the remaining soldiers that something was amiss. Akiva had kept the cell watcher's radio just in case anything came up, but so far it was silent only blurping in and out with random patrol questions and location briefs.

Tony's body was tense as they rounded another corner, he felt like a rat in a maze. The only thing keeping him from going crazy was the fact that he was sure he missed something between Akiva and Ziva. Ziva had been hanging back around him and McGee as Akiva and Gibbs took point. She barely looked at Akiva keeping her eyes trained mostly on the floor. He could see the wheels in her mind turning, and the emotions on her face flicker as they changed between sadness, anger, fear and sheer determination. His feelings were still a little sore after their argument, but he knew that he had pushed Ziva in the right direction with Akiva even if she couldn't see it yet.

Akiva hissed and grabbed Gibbs by the collar pulling him back from the hallway, immediately everyone stopped. Gibbs held in a grunt of disapproval at being manhandled but remained silent.

"…Yes she is here." A very familiar voice drawled from a distance. Each team member pressed themselves against the wall at the junction. They could hear two sets of footsteps coming closer.

"Good. She is unharmed, yes?" Ziva felt a chill go through her, her chest was tight with anger and hurt, she felt like she was miles underwater, the pressure seeming to be pressing down all around her.

"The other one is mine though."

"Sure, sure…"

Quietly a door opened and shut and all footsteps stopped. Akiva waited for a millisecond before rushing around the corner. Gibbs stumbled for a second at her sudden departure but quickly followed her grabbing her arm before she opened the door.

"Wait." He ground out gripping her arm tightly.

Akiva turned her head, her eyes dark with fury, her mouth set in a firm line. "She needs to know." With those last words she took the final steps to the door. Ripping it open she stepped through.

"A-" Bang. Akiva lowered her weapon an evil smile flowing over her features. Gibbs stepped behind her his head looking around, finally he saw Oren lying on the floor with a hole through his head, and he couldn't help but smirk this time. No miracle escapes this time Oren.

Akiva slowly moved her arm, aiming the gun at Director David, her eyes cold her smirk still gracing her lips. Eli just raised an eyebrow at her before calmly taking a seat behind a table that bifurcated the room. He sighed leaning back and folded his arms in his lap just lazily staring at her.

"Akiva." Ziva gasped finally making it into the room; she was shocked to see Akiva pointing the gun at her father, "Please…" her voice barely a whisper. Slowly and carefully, she approached Akiva. Her hands jerking slightly as she raised them up, carefully she pulled Akiva's gun arm down and away from her father's head. Her arm did not move easily; then suddenly halfway through the arch, as if being snapped out of a trance; she ripped her arm from Ziva causing the smaller woman to jump back in surprise. Akiva just growled keeping her gaze on Eli, and slammed her weapon on the table the barrel pointed towards her. Akiva crossed her arms and glared down at the man her temper flaring at his calm cool collectiveness.

McGee came in last closing the door behind them, they spread out in the room, Akiva stood across the table her arms crossed, Gibbs took her left casually leaning against the wall, Ziva remained at Akiva's right although a few steps back. Tony took the far right corner, while McGee stood just to Akiva's left his back against the door.

"Well here we all are, together again." Eli laughed putting his hand on the table tapping his fingers. His eyes remained on Akiva only slightly glancing to Ziva when she shifted her weight.

Akiva raised her eyebrow and look into his eyes. "We want answers."

"We? Don't you mean you?"

Akiva's lip curled, and she pointed over her shoulder at Ziva, "She. She deserves answers."

"Ha. I do not have to give them to you."

"You wanted me to train her to be like me, so you took things from her didn't you." Akiva instigated.

Eli's confident smirk left his face and he leaned forward towards her pointing his finger into the table top. "Things had to be done, I do not regret any decisions."

Ziva curled her arms around her midriff her jaw twitching, she felt Tony come up behind her, she leaned into him subconsciously, she was not sure she was ready for the answers to her life.

"How many people have you taken from her?" Akiva hissed leaning in close, her eyes tracking his as they shifted side to side.

" I did what I thought was best, 1-1-A-4."

Akiva's eyes flashed going dark, she could feel the walls her subconscious closing in, "Aaargh!" Akiva stood her arms gripping the edge of the table, she grabbed it tightly, with one large pull the desk flew on its end; Gibbs jumped out of the way, tripping slightly over Oren's dead body, as the piece of furniture slammed into the wall. With the obstruction gone, Akiva rushed forward grabbing Eli by the lapel, she hauled him up her leg sweeping the chair out from under him and slammed him hard into the back wall.

Finally, Eli's cool reserve cracked and his eyes widened in fear, Akiva tightened her grip, bring her face close.

"You wanted a monster? I am a monster." Akiva snarled for effect.

Ziva felt herself pulled forward slightly, she was torn between protecting her father and protecting Akiva. She felt Tony wrap a protective arm around her shoulders effectively keeping her away from Akiva. It was like someone had switched the light off again and he didn't want Ziva anywhere near her.

"Who?" Akiva growled shaking Eli slightly.

Eli gulped and closed his jaw tightly, which caused him to be slammed into the wall again.

" You're a politician. I'd start talking and save your sorry ass." Gibbs quipped crossing his hands in front of him lazily looking over at Eli. He found all this rather fitting, he never really liked the man; it was nice to see his cool façade fall so quickly.

"Who did you take away? Tali?"

"Yes."

"Her mother?"

"…Yes."

"Ari?"

"Yes!" Eli growled pulling against Akiva.

Ziva wiggled away from Tony coming next to Eli, her eyes filled with tears, "Michael?"

Eli looked over Akiva's shoulder, "Yes."

"Why?" Ziva's lip trembled as she refused to believe that this man before her was her father, that this man, the man who had supposedly loved her, cared for her, had taken away everything she had ever loved in her life.

Akiva glanced over her shoulder as Ziva then back at Eli raising an eyebrow.

"I am your father-"

"Father's a name you haven't earned yet." Akiva growled. Eli sighed and nodded his head.

"I did what I had to." Akiva stepped back letting go of him, he slumped slightly, leaning into the wall. Ziva kept her distance on the right while Akiva turned to the left.

"Michael?" Ziva's voice trembled as she spoke, her eyes filling with tears.

"I had him followed, and set up; I knew Agent DiNozzo would be snooping around and get into a fight with him."

"Ari?"

"He was rogue but, I assigned you specifically."

"Ima?" Ziva's voice was hushed as she felt her world crashing down around her.

"She was killed, she-she wouldn't let you join Mossad, she, went against my plans."

"T-Tali?"

"I knew about the attack on the mall, I-I did nothing to stop it." Eli slumped down the wall slightly, his face was impassive, he was angry, angry that he had lost Ziva. He tried to do it just as he was told; to create the perfect soldier, his child would have been the perfect soldier and succeed him. He even weaseled his way into acquiring Akiva for such a purpose.

"Nobody likes you." Ziva felt a string inside her break. She stared down at her father her eye's turning cold.

"Everybody hates you." Akiva growled.

"What would you have me do?" His voice held no remorse as he looked at the people at the room around him.

"You should go eat worms." Tony finished looking down at the man, who sent his daughter into the fields of hell.

A gun was raised, then, a shot echoed throughout the room.

End Chapter.

AN: Phew! Not too much longer now...so who do you think took the shot? ;) What do you think is gonna happen next? No worries there will be an epilogue, and for those worried about Akiva and Ziva don't. I'm not finished with them yet.


	19. Akiva Ziva Picture

Hey! Been busy, made y'all something. A picture of Akiva and Ziva. Now you will have to forgive my lack there of photoshoping skills but I did do my best. That and it's really hard to find a twin of one person when they don't have one. But I'm happy with the pictures. So I hope you are too. : ) The link is on my profile page.


	20. Chapter 19

AN: A big thank you to BeautifulDisaster for taking over the making of an Akiva Ziva pic! If you haven't seen my attempt check it out on my profile page. There is a link. Thanks so much!

Chapter 19.

McGee's hand shook, his eyes wide in terror, the gun in his hand clattered to the floor. Everyone in the room had their eyes on him, Tony and Gibbs held an expression of shock. Ziva's eyebrows had nearly disappeared in her hair line, her eyes still moist with unshed tears, her bottom lip twitching slightly. Akiva's eyes stayed hard, but there was a slight upturn in the left corner of her mouth, her arms crossed in front of her.

Eli, gasped out clutching his chest, his body falling onto the floor. His blood smeared the wall behind him leaving a sickly red trail. Everyone's eyes slowly turned back to Eli.

"Z-ivaleh…" Eli's blood covered hand reached out, his fingers swiping at Ziva's pant leg, "_H-elp m-e."_

Ziva looked down at his hand, then into his ashen face. His Hebrew words didn't stop at her heart, she felt them go through her like a cool wind. She took a step back, causing his hand to fall from her pants. There were so many things she wanted to do to him. She wanted to cry for him, scream at him, beat him. She took a shaking breath her body trembling, with so many emotions flowing through her she felt like she was drowning. There before her was the man who was supposed to love her, protect her. The man she had almost given her life for, taken a bullet for. This _man_ was nothing more than a _monster_, not a father. Not her father, he wasn't anything she had believed. He was the monster; a sneaky, manipulative, self serving monster. Had he ever loved her at all? Was everything in her life a lie? Was she just a body to him, another person with a gun, sworn to protect his worthless ass? Did she mean anything? Did her life mean anything? All those missions, her capture and torture, did it mean nothing to him? Her eyes closed as he coughed and sputtered.

Akiva watched him take his last breath, a small smile haunting her face. She had no feelings for this man. She knew that with him gone, Ziva was one step closer to being safe; one step closer to having a normal life; one step closer to permanency.

His ragged breathing filled the room for a few minutes, then an odd silence filled the space. Ziva sniffled slightly then turned to leave the room. McGee refused to meet her eyes, unconsciously holding his breath waiting for her to strike at him and released it as she merely shuffled past him. Everyone else took one last look around before silently filling out. Akiva was the last to leave, she stopped at Oren's body pulling out his level 6 keycard. Then without a second look she followed the others.

Azazel had to hop another flight, this one leading him into the Dayton airport. He stepped out of the terminal, looking around, he spotted a taxi, whom he flagged down.

"Dis, address, please." Oren handed the driver a paper and situated himself in the back, he pulled out some files, quickly opening Ziva's searching for her address. He frowned when he realized that the file did not have her current one. Shutting the file and moving on to the next one. Gibbs photo glared back at him and he smiled. Perfect.

The drive was fairly short, only about 20 minutes or so, but Azazel had his plan, he knew that Akiva would protect who she deemed innocent. He knew she had no feelings for her mother, but he also knew that she wouldn't let him kill her. He smirked, paid the driver and stepped out into the quiet suburb. He took a deep breath of the warm Ohio air then walked through the grass up onto the front walk. He could see a brown haired women moving through the front windows that showed a kitchen. He grinned. He dropped his satchel by the front door and knocked loudly. He could hear a woman shuffling from the kitchen and heard the deadbolt slide, then the door creak open.

"Ye-No!" Vidette screamed in horror backing away from the door, she tried closing it, but it was stopped by a hand. Azazel pushed the door open calmly stepping into the hallway. Vidette continued to back up slipping slightly on the rug.

"Mamawl?" A small tired voice called, Hikari came around the corner rubbing her eyes. Vidette's own widened in terror and she snatched up the little girl, ready to flee. But Azazel had closed the gap, he grabbed Vidette by the back of the neck hitting the right pressure points. Hikari slid from the woman's now loose arms, her butt hitting the floor hard, she looked up at the man with wide tear filled eyes.

"_Don't hurt my grandma!"_ She yelled in Hebrew her little fists hitting his legs. Azazel's jaw twitched at the little nuisance and he kicked out sending Hikari into the wall, effectively knocking her out. Vidette choked back a sob as her body refused to move, she felt so helpless, so useless; again.

"Now, we are going to play a little game." Azazel said coolly pulling roughly on Videttes neck guiding her into the living room, irritatedly kicking toys out of his way. He shoved her face first into a recliner, his head inches from her ear.

Soon enough, all of the team saw the outside world again, the sun was going down but they were finally out. They all breathed a small sigh of relief, each taking a moment to breathe. Akiva stood next to Ziva tilting her head down trying to catch her eyes, all the while maintaining a good two foot distance between them.

Ziva refused to look at Akiva right now. Sure she hadn't pulled the trigger, but part of her wanted to blame her for everything. All the pain, all the trouble, if she hadn't returned, hadn't been in America, none of these lies would have surfaced. The pain she felt would have never happened. None of it would have ever happened. She was so angry, so hurt, so tired…if she hadn't been who she was then her father would never had sent Akiva to train her. Right now Ziva's head was swimming, through all the lies, the fears, the pain. Everything seemed to be dumped on her at once, and she had had enough. She could feel Akiva next to her and an anger rose inside her, she turned, eyes wild, fists clenched. Ziva straightened herself to her full height; then, after only a millisecond of thought, launched herself at Akiva.

Akiva merely took a step back to keep her balance as Ziva assaulted her, she hit her chest, stomach, kicked out at her shins, anything she could reach; Akiva just stood there her arms at her sides, not dodging, not blocking just accepting, everything. She couldn't sympathize with Ziva, but she had seen her this way before. So full of pain, anger, regrets; it was the same way after Tali died. Akiva herself had about the emotional depth of a teaspoon but she knew that Ziva was much, much more deep. Also knowing that she kept it all locked up inside of herself. Locking it away, over and over, until finally she ran out of bricks and the whole wall came tumbling down.

Slowly, Ziva's fists slowed and the tears started, she leaned herself against Akiva her left hand still weakly hitting Akiva's chest as she sobbed. Finally, she felt strong arms encase her and just merely hold her, her head securely tucked under Akiva's chin. She could hear the wheeze of Akiva's breathing as they stood there just _feeling_.

Tony, Gibbs and McGee had taken a few steps away tactfully finding something else to do. McGee's hand still shook as he turned on the GPS, Gibbs kept a calming hand on the younger man's back and made sure that Tony gave the girls plenty of space by keeping an eye on him through the corner of his vision. McGee showed Gibbs the GPS showing that they were at least a 3 days walk from where they needed to be. Gibbs nodded his head then looked around at the decaying base.

Suddenly, an alarm went off, everyone turned their heads looking around, just as quickly they could hear dogs barking off in the distance. Akiva pulled herself away from Ziva quickly, so quickly that Ziva stumbled slightly.

"We need a vehicle." Akiva looked around, the sounds of dogs barking was getting closer and closer. She snorted and took off running. After a second between each of the others they followed. Akiva turned and weaved running down an old broken concrete path. The others huffing and puffing as they tried to keep up. Akiva was filled with adrenaline and was making quick work of the path. Her brain was leading her feet in a direction her mind had no idea of, but her subconscious apparently did. Akiva jerked to a stop as a dog ran in front her snarling and barking loudly. It lunged and Akiva fell to the ground her hands on the dogs muzzle trying to keep it from biting her face. She moved her hands into its jaw, forcing it open then twisted her whole body, there was a loud snap, a whimper and the dog fell off to the side. Akiva stood herself back up not even looking back at McGee's more than horrified face.

"Come on!" Akiva roared still a few paces ahead of them; she crashed through a thick tree, then skidded to a stop. She smiled. She had found what she was looking for. Before her stood a multitude of military vehicles, she scanned the area quickly realizing that the guards had probably been pulled to figure out what was going on at the base. She grinned running towards a jeep with a mounted rail gun.

Finally with a few more crashes the team met up with her. Gibbs bent over supporting himself, hands on his knees, gulping in air. Tony held his side in pain as he too gasped for air. McGee simply took deep breathes and Ziva came in last, she was holding her chest and was making a horrible sucking noise. Ziva reached out trying to support herself. She could feel her lungs seizing up, the edges of her vision going black as she gasped for air that would not come. McGee turned around quickly, just in time to see Ziva fall to her knees, her hands still clutching her chest. He felt Tony rushed past him and catch Ziva before her face hit the ground.

"Ziver?" Gibbs trotted over to Tony who was now cradling her in his arms. He had managed to roll her over, her head rolling limply over the crook of his elbow. Her neck was stretched back and Gibbs could see her pulse racing under her skin.

"She can't breathe boss."

"Come on we need to lay her flat." Gibbs grabbed Tony's shoulder helping him pull Ziva into his arms, Tony stood shakily and made his way to the jeep Akiva was still searching for keys for.

"What happened?" Akiva came around the jeep holding a set of keys.

"Lungs, those the right keys?" Gibbs nodded to the keys in her hand, still slightly out of breath.

"Ah."

Gibbs pulled open the door, McGee climbed in quickly helping pull Ziva onto the seat, Tony gingerly handed her over as they laid her out as best they could in the small jeep. He bent her legs then shut the door.

"I'll drive, you two take the gun pit."

Tony and Gibbs nodded climbing into the exposed back half as Akiva slid into the front seat and cranked the engine. They could hear more dogs and shouting followed by footsteps as they pulled away.

Vidette's face was covered in tears as she answered Azazel, she felt like she was betraying her daughter, again. Her face was turned into the chair her eyes locked on little Hikari who lay sprawled in the hallway.

"I think, I'll take her, train her right this time. No interruptions." Azazel smirked keeping his voice low and dangerous, his stale breath tickling her ear.

"Please, please don't take her. Take me." She begged another sob wracking her petite frame.

"I could always kill her. What do you think? Then nothing would stand in my way, I would have my perfect soldier back."

She could hear Azazel move behind her then the distinct sound of a hammer being cocked, "No! Ple-" She never got to finish her pleading thought as the world as she knew it instantly and loudly came to an end.

Azazel casually wiped the blood splatter from his face and tucked his weapon back into the hem of his pants then sauntered over to the unconscious girl, she defiantly had her mother's spirit he thought to himself as he grabbed her by one arm hauling her over his shoulder. He walked to the kitchen grabbing a set of keys from the hook then made his way to the garage, he smirked when he saw the red crossover. He opened the side door then dumped the little girl into her car seat, he buckled it then tightened it to keep her from wiggling out. He slammed the door looking around the garage, his gaze landed on a red plastic container and he smirked.

Akiva hit the peddle hard crashing through a set of bushes; they were now being followed by at least 3 vehicles, each one full of men taking pot shots at them. Gibbs and Tony were doing their best to take out the guards, but Akiva's evasive driving was making it slightly difficult, they would swing back and forth in the gun pit, their fire spraying out and splinting trees. McGee held his body over Ziva's ducking the incoming fire and keeping her securely on the seat, her breathing had since steadied but she was too light headed to sit up.

Akiva leaned out of the driver's side window pulling out a handgun she had found in the jeep. She fired three times, each one hitting their mark but winced when she felt a splitting pain go through her already injured ear. The jeep lurched forward then the ride went smooth as they made it onto an access road. Finally Gibbs and Tony were able take out the remaining vehicles with a series of quick bursts. A few explosions later and they were in the clear. Akiva slowed her death defining speed down and Tony and Gibbs sat back taking a breath.

"McGee!" Akiva yelled, still filled with adrenaline, "How far?"

McGee scrambled off of Ziva reaching down into his leg pouch, " We're close! Only 20 miles left."

Akiva smirked and gunned it, 20 miles, 70 mph, she smirked, they would be home in no time.

Azazel wiped his hands, and dropped the gas can down in the living room, without a second glance at the woman, who gave her life to protect her grandchild, and in turn set in motion a set of unforeseen events, he lit the match and dropped it to the floor.

End Chapter.


	21. Chapter 20

AN: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! A special thank you BeautifulDisaster for the picture, I am currently working on more pictures and I will link up my photobucket account for all that are interested. Thanks again!

Chapter 20.

"We're within range!" McGee yelped happily whipping out the tracking device, he quickly clicked the button and watched as it went from red to green indicating a clear and caught signal. Akiva slowed the jeep down pulling it to a stop at the edge of a rocky beach. She looked around the jeep then flipped open the clove compartment, she grinned happily when she found a set of binoculars, she brought them to her eyes, and looked out across the water.

Azazel looked into the extra review mirror specially designed to keep an eye on toddlers, he could tell that the little brat would be waking up soon, he hadn't thought to bring any food or other things for the child. He wasn't even aware that Akiva had the ability to create a child. At least, they had always told him that she would be completely unable to conceive. Interesting...he glanced back again, she did look like Akiva and defiantly had her attitude, but he knew it would be a long drive to D.C. and he would have to stop at some point to get the spawn some food. As it was, his current revised plan required her to be alive, and to do that he would have to feed her.

A little light caught his attention on the consul, and he groaned, he needed gas; with a sigh he pulled over to the nearest gas station and stopped at an available pump. He had just started pumping when he heard a shrill scream coming from inside the car.

"Ah, ze brats awake." He fixed the pump to run on its own then opened the rear driver's side door. The child immediately stopped screaming, a look of horror on her face before she once more started up. He growled, "Shut up!" The child just shook her head and struggled in the too tight car seat.

Azazel groaned, and looked around the car, there were multiple toys on the floor board so he picked one up and waved it in the girl's direction, with a mock look of happiness. Hikari just shook her little head and continued to cry, every now and then pulling at her hair.

Azazel's eyebrows raised in understanding, he had kicked her pretty hard, his eyes scrunched, do children get headaches? He had no idea, but he knew someone inside the gas station might, so he slammed the door shut and walked towards the convenience store. He walked down the small aisle of medicines, picking up each one reading the box quickly, until finally he found a bottle of, very overpriced, childrens Tylenol. He started to the counter then immediately stopped, how the hell was he supposed to get the child to drink this? He lifted the bottle, there was only a cap with measured increments on the top, no way was that brat going to do this willingly, he sighed in resignation and looked at the rows of refrigerated drinks. He grabbed the first brightly colored thing he saw and took both of them to the counter. The clerk, thankfully, did not ask any questions and he was in and out.

He stopped at the hood of the car making sure to stay out of her line of sight, he pulled open the top to the Gatorade he had apparently grabbed and poured a generous amount of Tylenol into it, he closed both and shook the Gatorade then went back to her side of the car. The child was sniffling and still wailing softly when he opened the door, he shoved the drink into her cup holder and slammed the door again.

Hikari's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the sudden intrusion but none the less retrieved the bottle from her cup holder, she brought the heavy bottle to her lips and sucked the sweet tasting liquid down. The coolness of it soothing her sore throat, and slowly easing her pounding head; after a few moments, she slowly stopped drinking, her eye lids getting heavy, finally the bottle fell to the floor with a loud thump. Her little head rolled to the side and a small sigh escaped her tiny lips as she drifted off to sleep.

Azazel grinned to himself and started the car, pulling onto the interstate. Only 10 more hours to go, he had plenty of time to plan the perfect steal, and he was going to make Akiva do it, the ultimate betrayal. That should break the insufferable bond.

Ziva laid on her side inside the medic bay of the ship; her arms tightly curled around her, they had given her a breathing treatment and some pain medication for her lungs. But nothing could stop the voices and images that assaulted her mind. Over and over, she watched her life flashing. Her father, Tali, Ari, everything, all the pain, all the training; she could hear her father screaming at her over and over. She clasped her hands tightly over her ears in a vain attempt to keep the voices down; but try as she might the voices were coming from inside not out.

A soft shuffling noise brought her current mental assault to a grinding halt, she could hear feet moving, coming closer. She uncovered her ears and wrapped her arms tightly about herself. She felt so cold, so weak…so tired.

"Hey Z." Tony remarked casually as if it was just another day at the office. He walked over to her bed, leaning against the wall. Her lack of response caused Tony's wandering eyes to land squarely on her back. She had been given a black T-shirt that was much too big for her tiny frame, and even though she clung to the material tightly as she held herself, he could help but think how small, she looked to him right now. She looked like a porcelain doll, just lying there to be held. He felt his hands twitch and quickly crossed them over his chest to keep himself from reaching out. He wasn't sure if she was in a hugging mood or not. He never could tell with Ziva, he did know that if she wasn't it would do more harm than good to try and pursue her otherwise.

Ziva could feel his eyes roaming over her form and let out a small shiver, not in disgust but from an internal cold that seemed to have swept through her suddenly. She wanted to turn and face him, but she couldn't find the strength to unclench her hands from the over sized shirt and roll. Every time the ship shifted in the water her head would swim, the voices in her head, cooing to her, calling out to go deeper into the abyss of her mind.

Tony watched her body tense and release as if she was fighting an internal battle, he felt so helpless, he didn't have any idea of what to say or do. Sure he had known her for, what, 6 almost 7 years but she never talked about herself or her childhood. He had learned more about Ziva from Akiva during their plane ride then he did in the many years he had spent as her partner. Tony's eyes widened slightly at his startling revelation, he really didn't know Ziva David. While his mind was trying to crunch away at that he decided to change tactics with Ziva.

"Have you ever saved Akiva's life?" He asked trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

There was a loud snort from Ziva's bed and she flung an arm over her shoulder pointing in some random place in the room. "Does she look like she needs my help?" She scoffed before wrapping the arm back around her.

"I'll take that as a 'no' then?"

Ziva grumbled and covered her ears, the voices raising up in full glory reclaiming her senses in vengeance over not being heard for the past few moments. "Ju-Just go away Tony!"

Tony sighed softly gently placing a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her some type of comfort, but she flinched and curled herself into a ball, effectively pulling herself out of his reach. He didn't press the issue, his eyes filled with sadness. He was halfway to the door, his eyes trained on the floor when he felt a strong presence in front of him. He quickly looked up, his eyes meeting Akiva's cold calculating stare. He quickly jumped to the side watching as she calmly strode over to Ziva's bed. He backed up slightly leaning by the door in case he needed to make a hasty exit. He watched, horridly fascinated by Akiva's body posture. Her arms were down at her sides, her fingers twitching slightly, her back was straight and her chin was raised and from what he saw her mouth had been in a thin firm line. All the signs pointing that she was on a war path, a quiet war path, but a war path none the less. He watched her stop a about a foot and a half from Ziva's bed her fingers curling into her palms, it was like watching a train wreck, he knew he shouldn't look, but he just couldn't…stop.

"Get up." Akiva's voice was low and cold as she stared down at the still form on the bed.

Ziva clamped her hands tighter over her ears, her heart aching at the tone of Akiva's voice. It was just so, so cold and uncaring…like her fathers…

"Get up!" Akiva roared pulling Ziva's hand from her ear.

Ziva flinched, her cool skin burning as if it had been touched with a red hot poker. Akiva did not hold onto her hand though, as soon as the offending body part was removed from her ear, Akiva's fingers left.

"I c-cant…" Ziva whispered, desperately, no pleadingly. She just wanted to lie there forever, the voices in her head screaming, telling her that if she stood, she would just fall back down.

"Get. Up." Akiva was tired of this game of self pity, they did not have time for a break down.

Ziva groaned uncurling herself and rolled onto her back, her eyes moist with unshed tears. Akiva looked to the ground in front of her and snapped her fingers. Her face still set in stone, her eyes and mouth hard. Ziva held her hand to her heart, subconsciously tracing her scar, her eyes searching Akiva's for anything, any emotion at all, she just needed the slightest bit of reassurance that everything would be ok. But the more she looked, the more her heart ached, there was nothing in Akiva's eyes, just cold, apathetic, ice; she felt a sharp stab of pain in her heart, and she looked away. She couldn't take it anymore, this woman, had done so much for her, protected her, shielded her, but she felt nothing for her. Not hate, not love, not pity, just nothingness. Ziva wondered how that was even possible as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, gradually slipping off, keeping her eyes glued to the tiny space between them.

Akiva stared at Ziva for a long time, watching her every movement. She couldn't sympathize or even empathize with Ziva's current condition. She would have given anything at that moment to feel just the tiniest bit of what Ziva was feeling. She wanted to know, she yearned to feel, anything, she didn't care. She was so tired of the nothingness that consumed her, the emptiness she felt inside. She wanted to feel the emotions she could see in Ziva's eyes. But she knew that could never be, and her main concern was making sure that Ziva would not drown. Especially if she could stop it herself; she knew she had to be hard, she was always hard with Ziva, but in the end Ziva always over came. She was a fighter.

Ziva could feel Akiva's warm breath on her hair, she stood there holding back the tears as long as she could before finally they came, silently and just as suddenly there were two hands gripping her upper arms in a very painful grip.

Ziva shrunk back like a small child her forearms coming up between them as she tried to curl herself away; but Akiva's grip held firm, Ziva wasn't sure if she should be relieved or hurt by the manhandling, she knew her knees were weak and her head was light and that the only thing anchoring her to this reality were the two hands painfully gripping her shoulders.

"It's…so loud..., " Ziva whimpered, her voice cracking slightly, "It's falling down…like rain...inside...it hurts..."

Tony had to lean closer in the doorway to even make out half of what she said, ready to rush in if Akiva did something stupid like, smack Ziva. He would defiantly not stand for that.

"So you stand in the rain!" Akiva voice was strong and firm she shook Ziva slightly trying to get her look her in the eyes.

But Ziva remained in a silent struggle with herself. Akiva knew that she wanted to be found, but the only way that could happen was to go through everything she was running from; straight through the pain, the lies, the deceit. She would not let Ziva give up and lie down, not let her quit she had to stand through the pain.

"You stand through the pain, you won't drown." Akiva's voice was softer now, gentler, but still firm, her mouth and face set in a scowl.

Ziva's bottom lip quivered slightly a small whimper passing her lips, she shook her head, causing her long curly brown hair to shield her face.

"Oh…Ziva…" Akiva let out a soft breath her tone soft as a whisper, and as gentle as a mother caress.

Ziva felt a warmth spread through her like wild fire, she had never heard Akiva's voice come out so, _kind_, so_ caring. _She felt a warm finger under her chin and allowed her head to be tilted back, her curtain of hair parting revealing her large brown tear strained orbs.

When their eyes met, it was like a jolt of molten lava had been poured inside of each of them. Ziva's lips parted in a silent gasp as she looked into Akiva's warm, inviting, and caring expression. It was almost like a lover's look; it was a look of complete and total trust, complete surrender, encompassing compassion and unwavering kindness. Ziva had never, in her entire life seen this look, on anyone and she wasn't even sure if she had seen it in herself. She felt the hand on her should loosen but remain. Ziva could just not look away, she wanted to remember this look on Akiva as long as she lived. She didn't want to blink, didn't want to breathe she just wanted to be wrapped up in Akiva's warmth for all eternity.

"You are a desert rose." Akiva said softly her breath tickling Ziva's face. "You strive without water, to survive, to live. And after it rains, you bloom and you become the most beautiful flower in all of the desert." Akiva moved a hand to Ziva's jaw her thumb idly brushing away a tear.

Ziva still couldn't look away, Akiva's words were so beautiful to her they had left her heart thumping in her chest and pounding in her ears. Her eyes flicked down to Akiva's lips and she licked her own. Ziva stared at Akiva's lips, slowly, she lifted her heels off the ground; her hands slowly uncurling and reaching out. Ziva watched Akiva's eyes hood, and match her own as their lips were mere centimeters apart.

" Hey!" came the loud strong voice of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Tony and Ziva jumped half a foot in the air while Akiva's head merely whipped around in the direction of the doorway. Ziva blinked away her shock, her eyes quickly going back to Akiva's face but just like that, the moment was gone.

End Chapter.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21.

Akiva's eyes quickly went from Gibbs, to glare at Tony's obvious lack of exit. Gibbs reached up and smacked DiNozzo on the head, eliciting a small smirk from Akiva. "We got Abby in MTAC, we need your help." With a pointed look at Akiva he spun and headed back out into the hull of the ship. Akiva wasted no time and simply left Ziva breathlessly standing, halfway fallen on her bed, to go out the door.

Tony flinched away as Akiva, purposefully, brushed past him. But he did not care too much about her right now, his eyes trained on Ziva. He watched as she took a deep breath, closing her eyes before she pushed herself off the bed. She looked different, somehow, resolved and yet, her eyes were still filled with tears. He slowly approached her opening his arms in an invitation. She sniffled and leaned into him. He brought his arms around her slowly rubbing her back, his head resting on top of hers.

"I have to save her Tony…" She mumbled looking down at her hand that she had brought up to rest on his chest.

Tony looked down at her slightly confused, "From what?"

"Herself…" Ziva sniffled again and pulled away quickly wiping her eyes, she was done crying, Akiva was right. She needed to 'stand in the rain' she needed to be strong, to win, to hope.

Tony for once in his life was speechless, he watched as Ziva untangled herself and made her way slowly through the door. He rubbed a hand down his face and followed; his face stuck in a frown as his mind deepened in thought.

McGee typed a few things on the ships MTAC computer, Abby finally fizzled into view her eyes wide her face contorted in barely suppressed fear.

"Oh my god! McGee! Finally! Are you all ok? How's Gibbs? Tony? Ziva?"

"We're fine Abs, whatcha got?" Gibbs leaned down putting his face in view of the tiny web cam.

"Ok, so I found this guy Az-zel David-"

"Yea, we met him too. Where is he?" Gibbs interrupted impatiently.

"How did you-Never mind! Anyway, he just flew into the Dayton International airport about 2 hours ago, the TSA didn't get our memo until he was already away from the airport. But! I've been checking all the nearby gas stations, and I caught him on a security loop…that I kinda stole…" Abby looked sideways for a moment. "Where's he going Gibbs?" Abby nearly whispered looking back onto her computer screen.

"He's going to D.C. Abs."

"What? Why?"

"Never mind that, what was he driving?"

"See that's the funny part, it was registered to a Vidette Daveda-"

Gibbs frowned and stood, "That's Akiva's mother." Gibbs grabbed Akiva by the sleeve pulling her closer to him. "Where's your mother's house?"

Akiva's eyebrows rose and she crossed her arms, pulling her sleeve out of Gibbs' grasp. "About a half an hour from the Dayton Airport, why?"

"What's the address?"

Akiva's eyes narrowed and she leaned herself over McGee's shoulder, wary of his still very bruised back, and typed one handed a set of co-ordinates into the computer, then pulled up the live satellite image. Akiva's jaw tightened and she stood straight backed, everyone else, gasped, the house was completely burned down, it was only an aerial view but it was quite obvious that nothing was left but the foundation.

Ziva's heart started to pound in her chest as she leaned over crowding poor McGee, her eyes wild, "You said that he was at the gas station, was anyone with him? A child?" Ziva's voice splintered over the word child and Akiva turned her head down to look at her.

Abby's eyebrows disappeared under her bangs and she clicked a few buttons on her computer, "Uh…I can't really tell…he did open the back passenger side door, he looked to be carrying something, a bottle of some sort…"

Ziva let out a sigh of relief quickly looking at Akiva for any reaction, but Akiva's face was expressionless, although her eyes were glittering in the dim lights, it was still hard to tell what she was thinking.

"How long till they reach D.C.?" Gibbs interjected.

"Uh…about 9 hours or so if they drive straight through."

"Ok Abby here's what I need you to do, get in my desk, there is an old medal case in there, get it out, take it with you down in your lab and don't you or Ducky leave the building until we get there!" Gibbs gave the cut signal to the operator and broke off the connection before Abby had time to argue. He spun looking at the captain of the ship.

"What's the fastest plane you got on this thing?"

"Well, even my fastest would only get your there in 12 hours."

Gibbs ground his teeth together, "Just do it."

The captain nodded and went over to a phone that was on the wall. Gibbs turned to his team, almost telling them to grab their gear, when he realized, they didn't have any. They had just what was on their backs and nothing more. Gibbs looked between his team, each one of their faces set in determination, they were ready for a fight, and he was sure Azazel was ready to give it to them.

"Alright it'll be ready in 15."

Gibbs nodded to the captain and headed through the porthole. McGee stood slowly looking between Ziva, Tony and Akiva, each in turn. He wasn't as dense as everyone thought, he could feel the tension in the air, he could see the expressions on each of their faces as they held a silent conversation between themselves. Personally, he was happy that Ziva had a protector, not that Tony wasn't good at it, but he just wasn't anywhere close to Akiva. In ability or knowledge. She just knew how to handle Ziva, even Gibbs hadn't quite mastered the quagmire that was Ziva. Akiva defiantly had his respect, not only had she saved his life, but she had shown him what true strength could do. He just hoped that Tony didn't screw it up, like he did with Michael.

* * *

Azazel looked at the setting sun, then in the rear view mirror Hikari was moaning slightly in her slumber the tight harness chaffing her neck. He decided that he had plenty of time and he knew that he was getting tired, and that the best way to get the child into a hotel would be while she was still asleep, he pulled off at the next exit going to the first hotel he could find. He pulled in the lot, getting out, he unbuckled the child picking her up quite awkwardly, her head lolling onto his shoulder as he walked. The man at the front desk looked at him with disinterest and gave him a key.

He opened the door to the room carefully depositing Hikari on one of the double beds, he didn't want to deal with a shrieking two year old anytime soon. He quickly locked the bolt and slipped over the door catch.

Hikari groaned and rolled over on her uneasy stomach. Cracking her eyes open, she was instantly shocked to be on a bed, she shot up looking around her eyes landing on a rather unpleasant looking Azazel. Her little lips pursed and she slipped off the bed, backing away from him slowly.

Azazel watched her carefully, slowly approaching, and just as her mouth opened to scream he snatched her up by her stomach, clamping a hand over her mouth.

Hikari struggled, kicking out hard, but her stomach had other ideas, and she violently convulsed as a wave of nausea left her belly, and as fate would have it Azazel had moved his hand ever so slightly. Her little mouth opened and her entire stomach contents came out in a projectile manor, hitting his face, chest and shirt.

Azazel too shocked for words promptly dropped her on the bed taking a step back to examine the damage, his eyes wroth with rage. The little girl however, started to giggle as the pain in her stomach subsided, she wiped her mouth clumsily and looked at him with a sense of arrogance.

"Why you little-" Azazel growled and stamped off to the bathroom, he didn't have a change of clothes so he was going to have to do some Chinese style laundry. He took one of the white towels and wiped the offending liquid off his face, then peeled his shirt off tossing it in the tub. He really hated children, he was going to be so happy when he was finished with that brat.

* * *

The small supersonic plane shook with turbulence. Adrenaline was filling their bodies as they made their way back to D.C. Ziva sat across from Akiva studying her face, Tony was next to her his broad shoulder bumping into hers as the plane rocked. Akiva sat next to Gibbs, his blue eyes looking between Ziva, Tony and Akiva. McGee had to be nearly euthanized before he was anywhere near the plane, he now laid strapped onto the floor of by cargo strips at all of their feet. Tony kept having to remind himself that McGee's back was as purple as an umpa lumpa to keep himself from using McGee as a footstool.

Ziva looked at Gibbs, searching his eyes. Had he purposefully interrupted them? Was he worried about rule 12? Did he not like the idea of her liking Akiva? Ziva growled to herself in frustration, he was so impossible. Soon enough, the inquisitive glares, turned into heavy eye lids, and the team fell into a somewhat restless sleep as the plane jerked and jolted its way to D.C.

* * *

Abby paced her lab, she was so nervous. She had never seen Gibbs so, focused, so intense, so blood thirsty and Ziva, she looked truly, panicked. She held the dog tags in a clenched palm as she continued to pace. This was how Ducky found her nearly 2 hours later, her steps had slowed but her face was held in a perpetual state of deep contemplation. The old Scotsman sighed and set down the sample he needed analyzed. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he stood in her pacing path and waited.

"Oof!" Ducky quickly grabbed Abby's arm gently to keep her from careening backwards, a small smile on his aged face. "Sorry, Ducky." Abby smiled softly shuffling back to give them some breathing space.

"Quite alright my dear." He patted her arm and motioned for her to take a seat. Abby sighed and plopped down heavily, jingling slightly.

"I'm worried Ducky. I saw Vidette's house, it was completely burned. The report said there was only one body recovered. Then Ziva said something about a child…" Abby's eyes teared up and she frustratingly brushed them away. "I'm used to having all the answers Ducky…"

Dr. Mallard sighed and rubbed her arm comfortingly, "Why are you holding those dog tags?"

"Gibbs said to keep them with me at all times and that were not allowed to leave until Az-zel is caught."

Ducky frowned slightly but nodded his head; he looked over at one of Abby's computers that had a little blue dot currently over the Californian coast.

"I see your keeping a close eye on them. What about Az-zel's car?"

"Well, the GPS was disabled, so I couldn't get a fix, and he's only using cash so I can't track him that way, so I've been requesting local LEO's to get me security footage from highway cameras on the quickest route to D.C. So far I've only spotted him once, but that was hours ago."

Abby huffed and went over to her make shift bed, slowly dropping to the floor and resting her head on her knees, she was completely exhausted, she just wanted the team safe and home again. They had looked so bad when she saw them on the web cam, their eyes, God their eyes.

* * *

Azazel came out of the bathroom, after blow drying his shirt, he looked around but couldn't see Hikari; he quickly glanced to the door, nope still locked. He nearly ran to the window, which was also still closed. Quickly, he went over to each bed and bent down looking under each one, nothing. Where was that little brat? He growled in frustrated and kicked a small door on the entertainment center, a small squeak of suppressed surprise emitted from behind the closed door. Azazel stopped his temper tantrum mid kick and listened again. Silence, he bent down and ripped the door open. His eyes widened in shock as he looked into the small 1 by 1 foot space, Hikari despite her height had curled herself into the fetal position as far back as she could get. Azazel grinned at her intelligence before grabbing her arm and pulling her out.

Hikari whimpered and struggled as she scraped against the insides of her cube, once free she kicked screamed out before he pressed his hand over her mouth. Hikari opened her mouth and licked his nasty tasting palm, she smirked when he snatched it away and nearly dropped her, legs landing a pretty strong kick to his groin.

Azazel just about threw, Hikari on the bed and took a step back, slightly hunched and wiped his hand on his pants.

"Don't yuu vant tu see yur mother?" He ground out hoping the girl spoke English.

Hikari did, but she wasn't going to let him know that, she may be almost 2 but she wasn't stupid.

"Mamawl wa nani shitaru no ka_?" _She slurred out in Japanese.

Azazel raised his eyebrows, that was a language he didn't speak. Mamawl, what was a Mamawl?

"Vat is a Mamawl?"

"Mamawl! _ You hurt her in our house where is she?" _ Hikari switched to Hebrew liking the look of surprise on Azazel face as she flawlessly switched languages.

"Yu need not worry. I take yu to yur mother." Azazel reached for the unsure little girl. "Now, just be a good gurl." She scurried away from him before he was able to pick her up. He growled and ground his teeth trying to control his temper. His ear twitched as a little rumble left the girl's stomach.

Hikari clutched a hand over her empty stomach, it hurt, really bad. Her eyes started to swell with tears. "Tabetai…"

Azazel widened his eyes in terror as Hikari's mouth opened, "No! Vait! Food right? Yu vant food!" To say he was scared of the girl crying would be absurd, but what he didn't want was a screeching child and a police investigation. "Hold on, yea?" He quickly grabbed the room service menu and looked over it quickly wincing slightly at the prices, but he needed to feed the girl and himself, he looked over the list; what did she eat? Could she read? He looked over at her, she didn't look very old but her language skills were impressive.

"Vat du yu vant?" He showed the menu to her, it had a few pictures and she looked at them.

Hikari couldn't read English yet, not fully, but she recognized the pictures and a few words, she pointed to the fruit bowl tapping it.

"Kore."

He pulled the menu back looking at the fruit, ok, that was easy enough. He called the room service, they were luckily still open and ordered them some food, a steak for himself and the fruit bowl for her.

The food arrived without incident and he went to his bed to eat his meal, Hikari happily ate her fruit; devouring it quickly, her stomach was officially sated, and she slid the bowl away from her curling up on the bed, her eyes were heavy and soon enough she was asleep.

* * *

Team Gibbs, woke as the plane landed, they were only two states away now, but they needed fuel. Gibbs rubbed his face, his body sore from sitting and looked around at his still half dozing team. The plane clanked and rocked as the crew outside hooked up the gas lines. McGee groaned and rubbed the back of his head. No longer sedated, he freaked out, at the jarring and small jerking movements the plane made.

"Boss! Boss!" He yelped trying sit up, but the cargo strips kept him flat on his stomach.

"Relax Tim." Gibbs answered uncharacteristically soft.

McGee groaned and shifted, his fear quelling down slightly, but now his bullet wound was sore from the poor position and hard plane floor. He really needed to sit up, "Boss can you unclip me? I really need to sit up." Gibbs reached down and let the ties loose and McGee all but scrambled into a sitting position anxiously looking out the small window. From his position all he could see was sky, but he was very, very aware that the plane was, _not_¸ moving. "Where are we boss?"

* * *

Azazel looked in the rear view mirror at the suspiciously quiet child, they had started on the road early this morning, and she had remained asleep until 7 am, but now it was 12pm and he knew that she would need to eat soon, only two hours out of D.C. he was making great time, even with the pit spots to "potty", so he knew that taking a lunch break couldn't hurt. He pulled into McDonalds and ordered her a kids meal, with apples, something he didn't know they had and probably wouldn't have bothered had they not asked, he pulled away with meals for both of them handing the bag to the child.

She looked at the unfamiliar bag and opened it, she frowned when she saw the round packaged hamburger and pulled out the apples instead. She had never had this kind of food before, but she recognized apples when she saw them, she ripped open the package and started eating slowly, looking out at the scenery as it passed by. Hikari had no idea where they were, but the mean man had said he was going to take her to Ima, and she knew that she would be safe as long as she could get to Ima.

* * *

Abby groaned and rubbed her head, her hair sticking up in random places as she dislodged herself from her futon mat. She fumbled slightly the dog tags around her neck tangled in one pigtail and braced herself on a lab table as she yawned, her entire body quaking slightly. She felt drunk with sleep, her tired body slowly waking as she made her way to her chair. She needed caffeine and now. She looked over at the Calf-Pow she had last night, her long fingers gripped it and she frowned, warm, but it would have to do. She started sipping the liquid when her phone rang. She slid her chair over to the other end of the table, picking it up.

"Abby S-."

"Vhere are my dog tags?" A deep gruff voice growled into the phone.

Abby's eyes widened in shock, "W-what?"

"My dog tags. Vhere are dey?"

"I-I don-"

"Don't bother lying. Tell Akuziva, if she ever vants to see her child again. She vill bring dem to me."

Abby started typing on the computer trying to triangulate the location of the call, just a few more seconds…_Click_. The line disconnected and Abby let out a frustrated growl. She had the search area narrowed, but it wasn't enough, she looked at her phone's caller I.D. _Blocked._

"Damn it!" Abby slammed the phone down with a heavy sigh. She looked at the little GPS blinker of the plane, they had landed! They landed! Abby ran out of her lab, ignoring the curious looks of her co-workers at her disshelved appearance, the dog tags still dangling from one pigtail.

She had just rounded the corner of the staircase when the elevator dinged, Gibbs came out first, gruff and dirty, Abby's platform boots pounded the carpet as she launched herself at him.

"GibbsGibbsGibbs! He called! Just called!" Abby's eyes moved from Gibbs to McGee and she made to launch herself at him but Gibbs grabbed her by her arm firmly.

"Who called?" Gibbs demanded. Tony, Ziva and Akiva filed out behind McGee. Tony and Ziva were not affected by Abby's antics but Akiva had taken an unconscious step back away from the hyperactive goth.

"Az-zel." Abby had only read his name before, it was hard for her to say and her brow furrowed momentarily as she attempted to pronounce the foreign name.

Akiva stepped forward past McGee looking eye to eye with Abby. "A-za-zel?"

"Yea." Abby gulped slightly cowering behind Gibbs. "He-he said that if you don't give him the dog tags, you'll never see your child again." The last part came out in a whisper as Abby fully expected some kind of rampage, as parents most often do when faced with a kidnapper. Akiva however, just nodded, her face a perfect mask, her eyes shifted to something shiny dangling in Abby's ebony hair.

Gibbs followed Akiva's line of sight, then gently pulled the dog tags free from Abby's hair, then over her head. Abby gave a small smile to Gibbs before he handed them off to Akiva who promptly put them on.

Gibbs turned to the rest of his team, "Grab your gear." Gibbs grabbed his bag quickly then turned, almost bumping into Abby.

"Here." She bent down stratching the triangulated blocks from the trance. Gibbs however, didn't even blink as he slipped past her.

"I know where he is." He replied gruffly as he pushed the button on the elevator.

Tony, Ziva and McGee quickly shuffled to their desks, their body's sore and stiff from the long plane ride. McGee was careful to bend at his waist as he tried to lift the pack. But his back spasmed and he dropped it. Tony, ever the hero, picked it up for him and slung it over his shoulder. McGee gave him a surprised look of thanks before following them back to the elevator.

Abby looked at Gibbs with a scowl, "What happened to Tim?"

Gibbs turned and followed behind them, "Fell out of the plane."

Abby's eyes widened as the elevator door closed, and with it her opportunity to ask the fifty million questions running through her mind.

* * *

The Dodge Charger peeled out of the parking lot, leaving a trail of smoke. Each of the occupants held on for dear life. Akiva was riding shot gun while Ziva was squished between Tony and McGee in the back seat. Each one holding onto each other for knowing their lives depended on it, as none of them had time to put their seat belts on before Gibbs had ripped out of the lot.

Gibbs mind was racing, he knew that Ziva's address was blacklisted for certain reasons, and the only way he would have gotten it would be if Akiva or Ziva told him themselves. Knowing that wasn't an option the only other possibility was his house, it was in a quiet neighborhood, with nobody poking around. If he were going to stage a drop, that would be the place.

He turned the car sharply to the left turning down his street, he had suddenly turned a 45 minute drive into 10 minutes, he braked hard, the tires squealing as he slid to a stop in the middle of street in front of his house, and sure enough there was a crossover in his driveway. Akiva had opened the door before Gibbs even had it in park, her long legs making quick work of the space between herself and Gibbs' front door. She had no weapon, but she didn't care, she didn't need one, she had the leverage. Suddenly, there was a loud bang as Gibbs' front door nearly came off its hinges and out stepped Azazel with Hikari. Gibbs, Ziva, Tony and McGee all lifted their weapons slowly making it onto the front lawn each one trained on him; their eyes on his arm that was around Hikari's chest. The team stayed behind Akiva like a force field as she clinched and unclenched her fists looking, _through_, Azazel. Azazel took a few steps into the lawn, his eyes cold, his gun pressed against Hikari's temple, the little child was crying profusely and trying to reach out to Akiva.

"Pity really, don't yu dhink? Yu're mother died for dis child but she vould not die for yu." He smirked pressing the gun harder into the child's head, "Now give me vhat I vant."

"You might as well kill her. You'll never get these." Akiva's voice was cold Ziva felt herself step back as her heart clenched.

"Yu von't let me kill her dhat vas alvays your veakness. Protecting ze _innocent. _Dhere are no innocents on the battle field!Yu are veak! A failure!"

"It made her human!" Gibbs yelled wanting so much to kill the man.

Azazel smiled evilly glancing at Gibbs, "I didn't train her to be human. I trained her to be a _monster." _

Ziva stepped forward slightly her resolve waning, her hand clenched tightly around her sig. Akiva pushed Ziva behind her as the rest of team looked on and held their guns at the ready knowing full well they couldn't take the shot. Akiva, ripped the dog tags off her neck and held them out in front of her.

"Come and get them." She growled. Azazel shook his head pulling the hammer back on his cougar. Akiva sneered and walked closer, pulling the dog tags back towards her. They were now an arm's length away. Hikari cried harder her little fingers almost reaching her mother. Akiva watched as his trigger finger tensed and moved faster than lightening. She grabbed the gun, the hammer hitting her finger and not the firing pin, her other hand opened and the heel of it went right under his nose. There was a sickening crunch as the bone was broken and with a violent shove sent straight into his brain. His arms immediately released sending little Hikari falling to the cold ground. Akiva grabbed the gun before it fell making sure her finger stayed lodged in between the hammer. Without a second thought, in one fluid motion, she dropped the clip, slipped the slide release and tore the gun to pieces, the once chambered round falling harmlessly on the pavement.

The team swarmed around them while Akiva stared at the man who had controlled her life for so long, his nose bloody, his eyes vacant. Akiva suddenly dropped to her knees, gingerly pulling her daughter away from the man, her head was bleeding from her impact with the ground and her eyes were slightly open. Akiva felt a pain in her chest like she had never felt before. She cradled Hikari's little body to her bending over from the pain. Ziva dropped her gun in the grass and rushed to their side, watching as the strongest woman she knew, suddenly collapsed to the ground holding the child. Ziva fell to her knees beside Akiva putting a, hopefully, calming hand on her back. She reached over and tucked the curtain of hair behind Akiva's ear and what she saw made her breath stop. There, right in the corner of her eye, was a lone tear, Akiva blinked, and the little spec of water made its was slowly down her cheek, it wasn't followed and Ziva was almost sure she had been imagining it until Akiva turned her head to look into her eyes.

Akiva's bottom lip was quivering, her eyes glossy and filled with pain. She felt like she was being ripped apart from the inside, she could almost hear the walls, of her mental cell, tumbling down. She searched and searched Ziva's eyes looking for anything to comfort her. Ziva's hand slowly came off her back and cupped her cheek, she watched as Akiva's eyes dropped down to Hikari then went back to hers, rapidly scanning her face. Ziva took a deep breath, and there she saw it, just behind everything else, was something she wasn't sure Akiva was even capable of, it was a complete and total helplessness. It bored into Ziva, chilling her to the core. She raised her other hand to Akiva's face holding it in place as she searched for the answers to her fears. But before Ziva could open her mouth, Akiva opened hers.

"I…I..love..you too…" The words were broken and foreign on Akiva's lips, her voice was barely that of a whisper but Ziva heard it and her heart swelled. Akiva lifted Hikari to her chest protectively, just staring into Ziva's eyes, looking for anything, she just _needed_ so much right now.

Ziva herself was at a loss for words, so she did the only thing that felt right, she tilted Akiva's face up towards hers, and ever so gently pressed her lips into hers.

End.

Epilogue to be coming. Stay tuned.


	23. Epilogue

AN: *Throws box of tissues at guys.* Girls watch yourself, you have been warned. Rated M for a reason.

Epilogue.

Ziva slipped under the covers of her queen size bed nestling herself in the middle. She gave a big yawn and pushed her head into her pillow nuzzling the softness. It had been 2 weeks since everything in her life was turned upside down. 1 week since Akiva had been cleared of all charges pertaining to the deaths of Azazel David, Adeyemi Femiadyem, Harvol Sems and Michael Oren. Ziva snorted at the memory of them attempting to handcuff Akiva and how the director told the authorities not to bother that her lawyer, Gibbs, had cleared her of all charges. Ziva smiled slightly as her mind back tracked further, back to the day, when they shared their first real kiss…

…Ziva herself was at a loss for words, so she did the only thing that felt right, she tilted Akiva's face up towards hers, and ever so gently pressed her lips into hers. Ziva felt the entire world melt away, her eyes closed as Akiva relaxed into the kiss. Ziva turned her head slightly giving them a better angle, her body was on fire, every nerve ending had suddenly come alive and her entire body was screaming in pleasure. This, she surmised, is what true love felt like, it felt like nothing else in the world mattered at that moment; nothing but each of them, connecting, revealing, _feeling._ Ziva's heart was beating in her ears and all she wanted at that moment, was to touch every inch of Akiva, to make her feel what she was feeling, the strength, the passion, just everything. Ziva stroked her thumb against Akiva's cheek her finger tip brushing at her closed eyelashes.

A small whimper left her throat as she felt Akiva pull away, her eye lids so heavy with passion, she could barely open them. She could feel Akiva's mouth lift in a smile before her lips left hers completely, Ziva almost fell forward again, but stopped when she heard a high pitched giggle. Ziva furrowed her eyebrows looking down past Akiva's face and into the beautiful golden eyes of her daughter. Ziva felt a rush of embarrassment flow up her back and neck, making her skin a most interesting shade of pink. She slowly drew back onto her heel, her eyes now wide open, her mouth slightly puffy and parted from the kiss. Ziva was again at a loss for words, she didn't know what to say, how could she explain this to Hikari? _Should_ she explain this to Hikari? What if Akiva didn't want Hikari to know. Panic started to set in and Ziva's lungs started to close as she stared into the all knowing eyes of Akiva's child.

Akiva's head had turned down at the noise, her face breaking out in full genuine smile, her body relaxed as the tension from the passion from their shared kissed was swept aside to another important matter. Hikari looked from Ziva to Akiva a large smile on her face, and even though there was a small amount of blood on her forehead, she did not seem to care about the pain.

"Do I get one too?" Hikari giggled, her little hand slowly unclenching its death grip it had on Akiva's shirt.

Akiva turned her head to Ziva her smile turned into a smirk, they shared a quick burst of communication before both them bent down and kissed each side of her cheeks, then as an additional measure, Akiva started tickling Hikari's side causing a fit of laughter to burst forth as she tried to squirm away into Ziva's arms…

Ziva smiled, and pulled the blankets tighter around her, that day was a good day, Gibbs, Tony and McGee hadn't said two words about the kiss they shared, which honestly surprised the hell out of her. She would have totally thought that Tony would have been all over her. But no, life had fell back into its normal routines, dead bodies, cases, the bull pin…

Ziva was working hard at her desk, filling out the last bit of paper work before she could go home, Tony was being his usual self, although they had gotten closer since their trip to Russia, he still maintained a set of decorum at the office; which at this point would be throwing paper balls at her computer screen. She growled as the latest one rocked her monitor causing it to flicker and go out.

"Tony!" She growled leaping up from her seat, she advanced quickly on his desk, and he stood backing into his cubical wall hoping that his height would save him. It wouldn't. She got right in his personal space pressing her lithe body against his broad form; holding a paper clip very close to the opening of his nose.

"Now. Now Ziva just calm down…" He sputtered his warm breath moving the stray hairs on her face.

"You better hope McGee can fix it or I swear-"

"Fix what?" McGee rounded the corner of the back end of the bull pin holding a file in his hands. Ziva spun pushing her butt very hard into Tony causing him to fall back slightly.

"My monitor! He hit it with a paper ball now it won't work!"

McGee looked curiously between the two of them then sighed placing his folder on his desk, muttering something like, "When Gibbs' away the mouses will play."

He went over to her monitor simply tightening the screws of the VGA connector and the screen came back on. "There."

Ziva turned back around leaning into Tony menacingly, holding the paper clip very close to his nose, "Oh…you are sooo…lucky." Ziva looked from his eyes to the paper clip a small smirk forming over her lips and she shoved the little piece of folded metal just enough to stick out of his nose and be uncomfortable.

"No! Don't kill Uncle Nini! Mommy!" Ziva backed up from Tony as a little curly black haired curl came rushing into the bull pin and wrapped herself around his leg. Ziva snorted and stepped back a little bit, giving a smile to Hikari.

Tony scooped up the little girl and jutted out his chin, "Yea, don't kill Uncle Nini."

Hikari laughed and pulled the paper clip carefully from his nose causing Tony to sneeze, Hikari 'eewwed' and dropped the slimy paper clip on the ground, wiping her fingers on his, very expensive, shirt. Abby came around the corner chuckling as she watched the little girl. Hikari patted Tony's head like one would a puppy then leaned out of his grasp towards Ziva, who gladly took her in her arms.

"Where's your Ima?" Ziva asked noticing that Abby had accompanied the child from daycare and not Akiva.

"Ima still busy with Die-ect-er Vance Auntie Abby came and gotted me!" She said excitedly. After looking over Ziva's shoulder and spotting McGee she wiggled to be let down, as soon as her feet touched the floor she launched herself at McGee, who quickly scooped her up and nuzzled her nose like they always do.

"Uncle Timmy, why you having to fix Mommy's computer?"

"Well, you see Uncle Nini," McGee grinned at the nickname that Tony had so desperately tried to change with the little girl, he had tried over and over for her to pronounce Tony, but she simply refused and kept calling him Nini and McGee took great pleasure in that, " was bothering Mini Mommy and he hit some of the cables and made her really mad, so I went to fix it while she yelled at him." Hikari giggled and nodded before giving Tony an Akiva worthy glare followed by a little pink tongue sticking out. McGee just chuckled and took her over to his desk so she could play with his Nerf desk cannon.

No one was quite sure when the change had been made from Mini Mommy to simply Mommy, they most often thought it was because it was hard to say such a long name, but Hikari knew better. She knew that one day, she would have two Mother's that would love her and care for her, and that the world would always be safe and she would be protected. She didn't care that Ziva wasn't her real Mommy and that people thought it was weird for her to call her that. She knew what she felt, and from the moment she laid eyes on Ziva she knew that one day, she would be her Mommy too…

Ziva yawned, and shifted, the cold space behind her was keeping her awake, she couldn't bare to sleep alone anymore, she needed that comfort, that stability. She closed her eyes tight trying to force herself to sleep, she was tired for sure, but sleep would not come. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts, that she didn't hear the door to her room open and close. It wasn't until Ziva felt the bed dip behind her that she realized she would get some sleep tonight. A small smile formed on her lips as a warm arm circled her waist pulling her closer to the person behind her.

"Tony."

"Hmmm?" The voice purred.

Ziva's nose crinkled, "You smell like Tony."

She felt Akiva chuckle and nuzzled her face into her hair, "Well I did train with him today." Akiva's hand wondered down under the hem of Ziva's shorts, gently caressing her hip bone. Ziva pushed herself back melding her body as tightly as she could. Akiva inhaled deeply, the smell of Ziva's instant arousal filling her senses. Her hand dipped slowly her fingers ghosting across her neatly trimmed pubic hair, Ziva tipped her head back onto Akiva's shoulder her mouth opened in a low moan of pleasure. Akiva turned her head and sucked on her neck softly.

"mmm wait…Hikari?"

"Shhh, she sleeps like a rock…" Akiva reassured, kissing along Ziva jaw, and Ziva turned her head so she could meet her mouth. When their lips met it was like a shockwave went through both of them, and they moaned. Ziva opened her mouth slightly giving Akiva entrance. As soon as their tongues touched a rush of heat flooded through both of them; making Ziva clench her legs together to try and still the pounding pleasure that pulsed through there. Akiva just ground herself into Ziva's body trying to relieve some of the tension that was so foreign to her. Ziva's head swam with thoughts of their first encounter since Akiva's return, sure it was good and it gave her the release she needed but this, _this_, was an entirely different feeling. It filled her entire body making her mew with need. She had wanted Akiva to give her release before, but now, she _needed_ it.

Ziva turned her body, never breaking the kiss, as she brought her hands up into Akiva's hair, she pulled at the hair tie that kept the unruly curls bound, after a few gentle tugs it slipped free and Ziva was able to bury her hands into the curly mass. Akiva's hand left Ziva's shorts and trailed up her side while her other hand cupped her cheek. Ziva moved a leg between Akiva's feeling the burning heat at the crux of her hips, she pressed into it gently causing Akiva to break the kiss and let out a deep moan of pleasure. Ziva trailed kisses along her jaw as Akiva's head dipped back giving her more access, her fingers kneading the flesh of her sides, flexing and pulling Ziva closer.

"mmph, clothes…" Akiva mumbled incoherently pulling at the hem of Ziva's tank top. Ziva rolled onto her back obligingly and Akiva placed herself over Ziva's hips she bent down and kissed the already exposed flesh of her stomach, gently running her lips over her fresh scar between her hip bones. Akiva moved slowly, gently pushing the fabric out of the way as she kissed the exposed flesh. Ziva was panting her stomach moving up and down slightly as she tried to reign in the sensations. Akiva just smirked and made her way higher, kissing the very sensitive flesh under her breasts before pulling the fabric over them and kissing every inch.

Ziva was in heaven, she had never felt so much pleasure before, she couldn't wait she needed Akiva now, she wanted to feel her body pressed against hers. Ziva reached down and pulled Akiva by her head to meet her lips, and forced her tongue into her mouth with a passion she didn't know she possessed before she dropping her hands down to the hem of Akiva's shirt roughly pulling the material over her head, and recapturing her lips once the offending material was gone.

Akiva sighed with content when her body touched Ziva's their stomachs and chests meddling together perfectly, she put her leg between Ziva eliciting a little squeak of surprise from the smaller woman before she pressed into her warm core gently. Ziva couldn't stop herself from moving her hips and pressing herself against the solid wall of muscle, it just felt, so _good._

Akiva continued to assault her mouth gently before pulling away, taking a deep passion filled breath. Akiva scanned Ziva's face, her lips were open slightly, her eyes hooded and filled with love, her face was flushed and her hair had spread out around her like a dark halo, and her skin had begun to shine with an interesting glow.

The entire U.S. army could've entered the room right then and neither one of them would have noticed, they were so wrapped up in each other that a simple look between them made the entire world melt away.

Ziva wiggled slightly under Akiva pulling her shirt over her head, before reaching back up and crashing her lips back into Akiva's. The larger woman gave a long moan and moved her hands lower on Ziva's body, lifting herself up slightly with just the muscles in her back giving her space to grab a hold of Ziva's shorts. A few wiggles and tugs and Ziva was free of them too, Akiva sat back on her hunches just admiring the panting Israeli woman before her. Her arms had fallen out to her sides, her lips parted letting out little wisps of air as she tried to maintain her breathing, her eyes closed and her chin tilted back. Her perfectly formed breasts moving slightly as her body moved with every gasp of air. Her skin was still that beautiful tan, her scars seeming to have melted away in the low lighting of the bedroom, her stomach was taunt and flexed involuntarily, her waist was small and her hips filled out, giving her a nice hour glass shape. Akiva's eyes traveled a little lower looking at the junction between her beautifully toned thighs, her sparse dark curls glistened with her need.

Ziva could feel Akiva's eyes moving over her form, and it just made her want to pull her back down again. To let her know; that she was real, that this was real, what they were _feeling_ was _real_. She knew that Akiva would never have believed it possible for her life to turn out so pleasantly, she had fully resigned herself to a lifetime of pain and torture. Not anymore, Ziva thought, not with me, we need this, we need us, and most importantly, _she_ deserved it.

"Akiva…" Ziva whispered as she felt her eyes hit the junction of her legs, she parted her eyes slightly looking at the woman who was so many things to her. "It's real…we're real…" Ziva reached for Akiva her warm hand just barely making contact with the larger woman's thigh. Akiva looked up meeting Ziva's passionate eyes with a set of her own, she moved slowly with the full grace of a cat and pressed her body into Ziva's, a finger tip on Ziva's lips.

"Say it again…" Akiva removed her finger from Ziva's lips searching her eyes.

"I love you." Ziva whispered back as she watched a smile form on Akiva's lips.

"I love you, too." The words fell from her lips with ease this time, as she brought them back down to kiss the goddess before her.

Ziva smiled into the kiss and pushed her leg over Akiva's effectively putting the larger woman on her back, the blankets and sheets tumbling their way onto the floor. Ziva broke the kiss for a different play ground. Her small soft lips placed feather light kisses all along Akiva's jaw and neck before dropping down to her collar bone, on which she sucked gently. Akiva let her calloused fingers trail Ziva's back as she made her way over her body, every nerve ending that had ever been damaged had seemed to come alive, and her head was swimming with the new sensations. It felt like she was being: touched, caressed, kissed, and licked everywhere. Ziva took a nipple into her mouth sucking on it gently, just see what kind of reaction she got. She was not disappointed, she felt Akiva's fingers press into her back as her body lifted off the bed slightly. Ziva sucked on it gently, using her teeth to roll the little bud in her mouth as her tongue flicking out to touch the very tip.

Akiva sighed deeply and brought her hands up into Ziva's hair, tangling her fingers in the curls pulling her head down further slightly into her chest. It just felt so good, she had never before experienced such a sensation and she wanted more. She gently guided Ziva to the other side of her chest taking in a sharp breath as Ziva took the other bud into her mouth.

Ziva's hands weren't idle either, they were gently caressing her side and cupping the recently abandoned breast while her hips had situated themselves between Akiva's legs, the coarse fabric of her pants making glorious sensations to Ziva's unprotected sex.

Ziva relinquished her hold on Akiva's breast and made her way lower, her hands fiddling with the jeans she had insisted on wearing to bed, 'always be prepared' she told her, she fiddled with the button for a few moments, while her mouth sucked and nibbled at the ribbed muscles of Akiva's stomach. Finally, she pulled the button through the eyelet and unzipped the zipper, placing a kiss right on the top hem of her newly exposed boxers. Akiva sat up on her elbows watching Ziva with a curious eye. Ziva pulled on the jeans but they wouldn't move as Akiva had shifted her weight, with a little growl she looked up from between her legs. So beautiful, Akiva thought, she raised a challenging eyebrow. Ziva's growl turned into a whimper as she pouted her bottom lip. Now that, was adorable, Akiva smiled and lifted her hips obligingly and Ziva pulled them free along with her boxers.

Ziva smirked in triumph and climbed back onto the bed, placing a leg between Akiva's instantly she could feel her arousal coating the bottom of her thigh as she rubbed against Akiva who in response, growled low in her throat and pulled her down by her head into a kiss before flipping them over. Akiva's hand floated down Ziva's body her long fingers parting her lower lips as she slid a calloused finger tip against the very sensitive nub. Ziva's hips bucked in response a loud mewing noise coming from between their lips. She pushed her tongue deeper into Akiva's mouth as the fingers ran circles, just barely touching what she wanted most. Try as she might, Ziva could not move her hips into the right spot as Akiva teased her. Ziva decided to turn the tables, but quickly realized their height difference prevented her from reaching Akiva's pleasure center, so instead she moved her hands up to cup her breasts, taking her nipples in each hand as she kneaded them.

Akiva shifted and pushed two fingers into Ziva, she was tight but more than ready for the intrusion, Ziva's hand immediately stopped as they flew out to the sides as she gripped the fitted sheet in her fists, her mouth dropping open in a perfect 'o'. Akiva smirked and lowered herself, keeping a steady rhythm with her fingers, when she was low enough she inhaled and blew out cold air on Ziva's clit making her clench around her fingers and squirm her hips. Akiva smirked and brought her warm tongue over the little nub, eliciting a gasp from the smaller woman underneath her as her hips bucked. Akiva just barely had time to move her head back to keep her teeth off the very sensitive piece of flesh. She placed one hand on Ziva's flat stomach as she lowered her head again, her tongue swiping out in long licks as her fingers pumped slowly.

Akiva could feel the inner walls clenching down and knew that she was close, but she kept her slow antagonizing rhythm while Ziva squirmed and panted underneath her. Ziva felt like her body was on fire, a slow burning fire that had ever so quickly engulfed her entire being, all she knew at that point was how complete she felt, how whole everything seemed to be right in that moment. She was so close, it just wasn't fair.

Akiva smirked to herself as turned her head slightly to look at Ziva's face, her mouth was still open but her eyes were clenched shut, she was so close…Akiva lowered her head even more and started sucking, the inner walls clenched down hard and Ziva's body rolled with her release her mouth opened wide in a silent scream of passion. Akiva rode with Ziva's orgasm as it dwindled, slowly she pulled her fingers free from their prison, she shifted herself up on her elbow and licked her fingers.

"mmmm…" Akiva mumbled as she crawled her way back up kissing Ziva's still open mouth, her tongue dancing with Ziva's as she shared the fruit of her labors. Ziva breathed heavily through her nose trying to slow her heartbeat. Akiva pulled away slightly so Ziva could breathe, a small smirk of satisfaction on her lips. "You had fruit today…" She said offhandedly as she licked her fingers clean, Ziva had tasted sweet, and clean, when she came, a slight hint of fruit mixed in giving her a most pleasant taste. Most people didn't know that fruit could change the flavor of your bodily fluids, and Ziva was one of those people as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, cracking her eyes open to look at Akiva.

"How did you know?"

Akiva licked her lips, "I can taste it." She smiled and kissed Ziva again, Ziva nodded numbly as she was pressed back into the pillows, tasting herself slightly. She was slowly starting to gain control over her lower half, so Akiva took the chance to admire Ziva's afterglow. There was a thin sheen of sweat over her entire body, and it seemed to literally glow in the dark. Her legs were twitching slightly as she attempted to regain control of them, and her hands had lost their death grip on the sheet. Everything felt perfect.

Ziva's heart beat slowed down enough and she opened her eyes fully, she watched Akiva watch her and smiled, always the observer, she smirked. Ziva rolled her, suddenly, very heavy body on its side and nuzzled into Akiva's chest, breathing in her earthy scent, with her clothes gone she no longer smelled like Tony and that, was a very good thing. Ziva ran a hand idly down her side, before shifting herself lower, bringing her face to face with Akiva's chest, while her hand made its way southward into Akiva's core.

Akiva moaned at the contact and arched backward. Ziva smiled and opened her mouth taking a nipple into her mouth. Akiva lifted one of her legs bending it at the knee so Ziva would have full access. Ziva wasted no time and found the little nub and flicked it teasingly. Akiva groaned in pleasure her head falling back, Ziva shifted again pushing two petite fingers into Akiva's waiting center.

Akiva moaned at the intrusion and shifted so she was on her back, Ziva followed her movements nestling herself into her side as she continued to stroke her fingers in and out. She could feel the walls around her fingers and crooked her fingers slightly causing Akiva to jump slightly when she hit her cervix. Ziva merely grinned and shuffled lower, placing random kisses along her body. Akiva absently brushed Ziva's hair aside so she could watch as her lips moved closer to her center.

Ziva didn't mind and she nibbled a little on Akiva's hip bone before going lower, Akiva's smell was strong, but not unpleasant, in fact it smelled faintly of vanilla and sandalwood, she kissed the smooth skin above Akiva's clit before dipping her head lower and licking the nub directly. Akiva let out a hiss and put her hands above her head, gripping the headboard, her breath was coming in quick bursts as Ziva rolled her fingers in time with her hips. Ziva suckled and blew cold air while she moved her fingers faster and faster, Akiva's body was lifting up more and more from the bed as she got close, then finally, Ziva felt her clench and push as she fell down the mountain. Her entire upper body coming off the bed while her head hung behind her shoulders. She felt Akiva pulse and spasm then felt the bed shake as she came crashing down, she smirked and lifted her head absently wiping her mouth. Akiva's head remained at an odd angle as a pillow had somehow been pushed behind her shoulders, giving Ziva a perfect view of her lean body and neck. Pulling her fingers out slowly and climbing up her body, she licked the tip of her honey coated fingers gingerly, then, liking the taste cleaned them off.

Akiva hadn't moved since her release and her neck was still stretched back so invitingly, so Ziva did the first thing that popped into her mind, she licked it. She felt Akiva moan and swallow the vibrations tickling her tongue. Everything felt so right, Ziva's hand absently stroked Akiva's pectorals, it was odd really, her upper chest was flat and toned while her chest flared out into her breasts. Her fingers ghosted along the X shaped scar, that incidentally wasn't actually over her heart. Ziva leaned her head onto the right side of Akiva's chest, her ear listening to the pounding sound as Akiva's body tried to right itself.

They lay there for a few moments, sharing in the afterglow of their activities when a clumsy hand went to her bare back and tugged gently on her hair. Ziva smirked and took the hint sitting up and looking into Akiva's beautiful blue eyes.

Wait. Ziva looked again, Akiva blinked slowly shifting so she could see Ziva better, her brow mirroring Ziva's look of concern.

"What?" She croaked out.

"Y-your eyes…" Ziva grabbed a hold of Akiva's face bringing it closer, Akiva pursed her lips in response.

"What about my eyes?"

"They're blue-"

Akiva rolled her eyes, of course she had a blue eye what was the point.

"-both of them."

Akiva's eyes widened in shock and she reached for Ziva's bedside table, her upper body twisting oddly as her lower half refused to move properly. She pulled the little compact mirror off and opened it. She winced at the little light that came with the mirror, but then looked close at her eyes…two beautiful deep blue eyes stared back at her, and she couldn't believe it. She looked at Ziva who now had a large smile on her face. Akiva just tossed the mirror to the side and wrapped Ziva up in her arms, pulling her onto the bed with her, right now she didn't care about her eye color, all she wanted was to sleep next to the woman that she undoubtedly fell in love with. Ziva let out a little squeal as she was pulled down, but quickly she righted herself pressing her body as close as she could into Akiva's front.

They laid on their sides for a few moments before a slight chill ran through them both, Ziva looked up into Akiva's eyes. "Might help if we had some blankets." Akiva brought her finger up to the tip of her nose with a grin.

"Not it."

Ziva growled and rolled away from her personal space heater, she groped around on the floor her body still halfway on the bed her arse lifting up in the air, Akiva smirked and admired her perfectly round bottom. Finally, she pulled the heavy comforter from the floor and flung it over her shoulder, Akiva grasped it easily and pulled it the rest of the way onto the bed. Ziva rolled back over and nestled herself back into Akiva's waiting arms, her head resting on her bicep her chin tucked comfortably under Akiva's, her one arm curled in front of her while the other rested just above Akiva's hip. Akiva pulled the comforter up to Ziva's ear then wormed her arm over Ziva's and rested it on her back, her thumb drawing light circles over her spine.

Ziva yawned loudly before letting out a contented sigh, her brain instantly clicking off into dream land. Akiva chanced a glance at the clock. It read 1:34. Then with a yawn she closed her eyes wondering how, something that seemed to last only minutes, had taken hours.

…

A short time into their slumber a little hand knocked quietly on their door, startling Ziva so bad that the top of her head hit Akiva's jaw. Akiva sat up quickly her teeth clicking together, the blanket forgotten at her waist as a little head peeked around the corner of the, now open, door.

"Ima?" The little voice whispered cautiously.

"Yea baby?" Akiva said rubbing Ziva's shoulder as she stilled herself from the shock of being woken up so abruptly.

"Can I sleep with you and mommy?" Hikari let out a pitiful sniffle and rubbed her eye coming into the room slightly. Akiva looked down at Ziva wondering if this would be ok, Hikari wasn't known to be a habitual stayer in their bed, in fact, she had never once asked to sleep next to them. Ziva rubbed her eye and nodded her head yawning loudly.

"Ok, why don't you grab your pillow why mommy and me get into our pajamas."

Hikari nodded her head, and closed the door again, muttering something about, 'talking to pawpaw about working people so hard they couldn't even remember to wear pajamas to bed.'

Akiva stood on shaky legs as she fumbled around for a t-shirt, she pulled her boxers from her pile of clothes and slipped them on quickly, then found one of her old button up shirts and tossed it at Ziva along with a clean pair of her own boxers. Ziva sat up slowly and just in time to have a shirt tossed in her face, but at this point she just could not care. She pulled the oversized garment over her head then wiggled into the boxers that had pelted her shortly after. Akiva gave a sigh of relief when she finally found the chest of drawers, she pulled the second one open pulling out one of Ziva's t-shirts, it would be snug but it would have to do, she had just slipped it on when Hikari knocked again, before slowly opening the door.

" Mo ii desu ka?" Hikari mumbled sleepily.

"Hai, kochira…" Akiva said into the darkness, letting Hikari know where she was.

Hikari dragged the pillow behind her as she walked towards her mother's voice, she felt two strong arms lift her gently and place her on the bed. Hikari hesitantly reached out and found Ziva, a small smile forming on her face. Ziva petting Hikari's hair back before kissing her forehead; Akiva slipped in behind them making a perfect Hikari sandwich. Hikari sighed happily and she was encased in two warm sets of loving arms.

"Yume ga?"

"Ah, yume, bad man, ni ikita, Ima tou Mommy shisha…" She mumbled as she nestled deeper into the covers. Akiva looked over at Ziva her eyes filled with concern.

"Don't you ever worry, mommy and I will never let anything happen to you, that mean man isn't strong enough to kill us." With that she gently tickled Hikari's ribs making her giggle and try to swipe the hand away but Ziva joined in and together they tickled Hikari until the worry on her little face disappeared.

Hikari sighed deeply and looked between Ziva and Akiva, "I love you Ima, I love you mommy." She smiled and closed her eyes falling fast asleep. Akiva leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaning over and kissing Ziva lightly on the lips. Ziva smiled and kissed Hikari's temple. They both kept a protective arm around the small child as they drifted back to sleep. Both of them thinking, Ah…parenthood…

At 5:30 in the morning the screeching sound of two alarm clocks went off causing all three occupants of the bed to groan. During the night Hikari had managed to sprawl out, effectively pushing both Akiva and Ziva to the edges of the bed, while she lay comfortably in the middle holding onto each of their hands.

Akiva moved first silencing the alarm on her side of the bed while curiously looking over her shoulder at her child, who had not only managed to take up most of the bed but had commandeered all of the covers. Hikari covered her head with Akiva's pillow and groaned trying to drown out the noise. Ziva was the last to wake as her hand fumbled to find the snooze button, finally after some effort, her fingers landed in the right spot and the room was filled with silence again. She patted her side looking for the covers she knew should be there then frowned and sat up blinking slowly as the morning sun pierced through the dark blue curtains of her bedroom. She glanced at Akiva who was sitting on her side of the bed feet on the floor elbows resting on her knees as she stifled another yawn. Her eyes then flicked to their little guest as she nestled herself deeper into the mountain of covers she had stolen during the night.

"ugh, coffee…" Akiva murmured pushing herself up, Ziva watched as she dragged her feet to the door opening it slowly, then made her way down the hallway. Definitely not a morning person, Ziva smirked. She gave one last glance at the slumbering child before following Akiva into the kitchen. She smirked as Akiva refused to open her eyes fully and was fumbling through the cupboards. Ziva leaned against the door frame as she waited to see how long it would take for Akiva to realize that she didn't have a coffee maker. After all, she did this every morning. Akiva slammed the last cupboard and looked at the counter, growling low in her throat. Ziva took that as a sign of realization and slowly advanced putting her arms around Akiva's waist leaning into her. Akiva's tense body relaxed into Ziva, as she rolled her neck to relieve some of the tension. Ziva rubbed her hands on Akiva stomach and rested her cheek on her back.

"How about a shower instead?"

"mmm…"

Ziva smirked and took Akiva by the hand leading her back down the hallway and into the bathroom. She Akiva sat down heavily on the toilet lid while Ziva busied herself with the water temperature and obtaining towels. I really hate mornings, Akiva thought as she yawned loudly her entire body shaking form the force of it.

Ziva re-entered the bathroom with plenty of clean towels in hand and looked at Akiva, who had laid her head on the counter in a vain effort to go back to sleep. Ziva just rolled her eyes and set the towels on top of where her head lie and started pulling her 'pajamas' off.

Akiva felt the thump of the towels landing on her head and groaned, Why did she have to be so, _awake_ this early? Akiva reached up and set the towels further down on the counter before watching Ziva's bare leg slip behind the shower curtain and eyebrow raised in a very Tony like manor. Well, at least I have a good view, she thought as she stood herself pulling the way-to-tight shirt over her head dropping it carelessly on the floor. She stepped out of her boxers just as quickly then pulled the curtain back stepping behind Ziva. Yes, she thought, a very nice view.

They washed without much incident, only pausing here and there to share a kiss or a touch. Ziva was mostly to blame as Akiva just barely made it through the shower without falling back to sleep. But soon enough both were dressed and ready for work, it was still early yet so Ziva made her way to the kitchen to cook breakfast while Akiva attempted to rouse her sleeping daughter, apparently hatred of mornings was a genetic thing.

When half an hour went by and she hadn't heard anything Ziva frowned, setting the now completed breakfast on the table, she cautiously made her way back into the bedroom, only to find that Akiva had laid back down next to Hikari her mouth slightly open in a gentle snore. Grumbling slightly to herself she pulled the blankets from the bed hard, causing Akiva to slip halfway off and fall on her butt. She groaned loudly and glared at Ziva who in turn glared back.

"Breakfast is ready." Ziva said in a way too cheerful voice and with a huff turned and left the bedroom.

Akiva groaned and rubbed her sore hip before standing back up, she gently pulled a still half asleep Hikari from the remaining blankets and carried her out into the living room/dinning room/ bedroom. Hikari rubbed her eyes yawning loudly as she was placed into a chair, her eyes widened as the smell of food assaulted her senses, her little hands quickly grabbing the fork that was placed there for her and took a huge bite. Akiva smirked and grabbed her own fork taking a bite. Ziva also noted with a hint of sadness, that Akiva's once duel blue eyes had once more receded to their original state. Although she could make out a hint of blue specks starting to break through the scar tissue of her damaged right eye.

Soon enough, all parties were ready and accounted for; it was still a bit too early to take Hikari to the daycare center at NCIS so Akiva and Hikari rode in the elevator up to the bull pin. As soon as the elevator binged with their arrival little Hikari took off like a bullet.

"Pawpaw!" She squealed, running into the quiet office space bounding for a set of long legs.

Gibbs looked down and quickly set his coffee cup on Ziva's desk just in time to scoop the little girl up mid jump.

"Hey kiddo." He tussled her hair and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Suddenly Hikari's little face turned serious her little eyebrows furrowing and her bottom lip sticking out. Tony looked up from his paper work at Gibbs while McGee focused on starting up his nerf table canon knowing for sure that Hikari would want to play with it as soon as Gibbs let her down.

"Pawpaw-"

Akiva came up quickly giving Hikari a pat on her head, cutting her off, before she made her way to the staircase leading up into Vance's office. Hikari's head whipped around at the love tap, smiling slightly before turning her very concentrated look back to Gibbs. Ziva came around the corner setting down at her desk, raising the cup of coffee Tony had bought for them that morning.

"Pawpaw, we have a problem."

"Yea? What's that?" Gibbs furrowed his eyebrows in mock concern at the little girls stern face.

"You work Mommy and Ima too hard! They were so tired last night, they went to get without any pajamas!"

Ziva sputtered into her coffee, her eyes wide. Tony smirked and flashed his trade mark smile at Ziva, oh yea he was going to make this worse. Ziva's eyes widened and she mouthed , 'Don't' but he simply ignored her.

"What _were_ they wearing?" Tony asked smoothly.

"Nothing! They were too tired!" Hikari looked innocently over Gibbs' shoulder her eyes wide with concern, then turned her gaze back to Gibbs crossing her arms with a huff. "Pawpaw, why must you work them so hard?"

Gibbs bit his tongue to keep from laughing, his face twitching as he suppressed a smile, the innocence of children, he thought.

Ziva continued to sputter, trying to take a breath.

"Mommy what's wrong?" Hikari's little eyes turned to Ziva.

"Nothing, she'll be fine." Gibbs patted Hikari's back and grabbed his coffee taking a sip.

"Pawpaw, you going fix it right? So Mommy and Ima won't be too tired?"

Gibbs nodded his head, "Uh huh."

Hikari's little face broke out in a large smile, like she had just solved all of the world's problems, her little hands reaching for Gibb's coffee cup. He pulled it away causing her to frown.

"Too hot. Here." Gibbs walked over to his desk, picking up a smaller coffee cup, that was in fact filled with coffee, although not how he would have made it. He offered it to the little girl helping her take a sip. Hikari took a large gulp then held the cup to her chest, just looking around at team Gibbs.

Tony was still smirking and looking Ziva up and down, his little hamster running ramped on his mental wheel. Hikari leaned in close to Gibbs' ear.

"Pawpaw." She whispered pointing to Tony, seeing the mischievous glint in his eye.

Gibbs let little Hikari down after taking her coffee cup and placing it on his desk, the little girl padded over to DiNozzo looking as innocent as possible. When she reached his side she tugged on his coat jacket.

"Uncle Nini, I want to tell you a secret." Hikari whispered.

Tony bent down a large smile on his face, "Sure, what is it?"

Hikari reached up behind his head, with reflex's not known for her age group, and effectively Gibbs slapped Tony, his face dropped in shock as the little girl giggled then ran over to Ziva hiding behind her chair. Gibbs smirked and winked at Hikari eliciting another little giggle.

"Boss…" Tony childishly whined.

"You deserved it." Akiva's voice broke the void, all eyes immediately snapped to her as she stood at the entrance to the bull pin with Vance as her shadow. Gibbs' jaw immediately set as he stared down at Vance. Vance gave a small nod to Gibbs then handed Akiva a file folder. Akiva held her hand out and Hikari skipped over to her grabbing it tightly following Akiva to the elevator.

Gibbs set down his coffee and grabbed Hikari's quickly following after them, slipping in just as the doors closed. He handed Hikari the coffee cup and Hikari let go of her mother's hand to drink it.

"You take the job?"

Akiva shook her head no, and handed him the folder Vance had just given her.

"Thank you Gibbs, but I could never be an investigator."

Gibbs looked down at the file in his hand a small frown gracing his features, "What about Ziva?"

"What about her?" Akiva smirked and got off the elevator leading Hikari down a hallway, Hikari's little head turned around and watched him, a small pout on her face.

Gibbs just stood there in shock for a moment staring after them, until finally the doors closed them from his view. He hit the button for the bull pin then flipped the folder open, a large grin breaking out on his face. He just shook his head and closed it again, schooling his features into a hardened mask.

"What happens with Akiva?" Ziva stood from behind her desk watching Gibbs' face for any indication.

"Well, I offered her a job."

"On the team?" Tony gasped.

"Yea."

"Did she take it?" Ziva blurted out eyes wide and filled with hope.

"Nope." Gibbs opened the file folder again scanning through it nonchalantly.

Ziva's face fell her whole body filling with dread, was she leaving…again?

Gibbs took out papers handing it to each of his team members before walking over to his desk and sitting down.

"What's this boss?" Tony yelped looking down at the paper.

"Your training schedule, you start tomorrow. With Akiva." Tony groaned, he just trained with her yesterday, and he was still sore. 'Just a little bit of fun' she said. Ha! She nearly killed him six ways to Sunday. He just had to act all macho the day before after having disarmed a rogue marine trying to escape custody.

Ziva's eyes widened in shock as she read the paper, her heart pounding in her chest, she took a job at NCIS? Does that mean? Could it be? That she's staying? She couldn't believe her eyes, as she looked over the paperwork, her legs fell out from under her and she fell down heavily in her chair. She looked at the extra paper Gibbs had handed her.

'Akuziva Daveda reinstated NCIS Special Agent. Effective: Immediately. Job status: Confirmed. Job Title: Self Defense Instructor. Salary: Tier 5. Clearance: Full. Address: 6424 Brickan Street D.C.-' Ziva stopped reading, that wasn't her address. She looked over at Gibbs as he hung up his phone.

"Gotta case. Grab your gear!"

Akiva kissed Hikari's head and let her loose into the play area of the NCIS daycare. Vance wanted her back in his office when she was child free. She sighed and stood, it was time to get down to business. She put her hand in her pocket fingering three small half dollar sized disks and pushed the button on the elevator. She took it to the top floor, when the doors opened she made her way to his office just in time to hear Gibbs yell 'Grab your gear.' She closed her eyes taking a deep breath, she watched from the shadows as Ziva grabbed her back and trotted after her team. She really had grown, she couldn't protect her forever, she had to trust herself and Ziva. In her heart, she knew Ziva would be safe, she had a great team, and a great leader.

Akiva pushed open the doors to Vance's office her eyes falling on the three men seated at his conference table.

"Ah good." Vance came around his desk and motioned for her to take a seat, but before she could the man at the far end of the table stood up straight backed.

"As I live and breathe. Akuziva Daveda?"

"Secretary." Akiva dipped her head politely.

SecNav just closed his gaping jaw lifting his chin, bringing his arm up in a very rigid salute.

Subconsciously, Akiva's heels clicked together and she saluted in return, bringing her arm down slowly giving permission for him to do the same. Akiva held his gaze until he broke away taking his seat once more, Akiva followed suit taking the seat that Vance had originally offered her.

Akiva looked around at the two other men seated at the table, her brain clicking through all of her history lessons.

"We have few matters on our hands today." Vance pulled open a folder.

"As previously discussed, Director David is still missing with no word on his possible location or whether he is alive or dead." At the word dead Vance glanced at Akiva whose face was in an impassive mask.

"Additionally, I believe you are all aware of the mission code named Legacy?"

The three men at the table eyes widened at the word legacy looking around at each other.

"Do nut tell me dat it haz been found?" A tall blond haired man with a thick Russian accent spoke leaning into the table.

"Indeed." Akiva spoke drawing all four of the men's attention to her.

"With all due respect Leon, are you really cleared for this?" SecNav asked in astonishment, he knew that only a select few knew about Legacy and an even smaller few had been privy to be read into the operation after its launch.

"I am," Vance lifted a red file folder with the presidential seal on it, "And I believe that everyone here is of privy to the information that has come to light."

The stout Asian man next to the Russian narrowed his eyes slightly glancing between Akiva and Vance.

"President," Akiva started gently, drawing the attention of the Asian man back to her, "I assure you, that this is real." With that Akiva lifted her dog tags for all to see.

"Due to our pact during WWII-" Vance started.

"Yes, yes vhat about zhe files?"

Akiva snorted and slipped open the dog tags pulling out the micro SD chip. "I have the only copy left, the original micro-feesh as well as any other pertaining documents were destroyed during a bombing in Israel in 1996 however, I had already managed to convert everything digitally. There are no other documents left. You will each get _your_ half of the information." Akiva pulled out three poker chips from her pocket, one yellow, one white, and the other blue. She slid the micro SD card into the end of each one placing each opening the chips on the table revealing another set of micro SD chips. She pushed the yellow one to the Chinese president of military affairs, the white one to the Russian vice president, and the blue one to the U.S. Secretary of the Navy.

"Now, since I know that none of your countries are in the position to pay the full reward for this information. I believe it is time we strike a deal." Akiva leaned her elbows on the table, looking between each of the men before her.

Abby sighed happily as she put the finishing touches on Hikari's birthday present, her body humming with excitement as she thought about the party her and Akiva were planning that evening. It was really startling when Akiva came into the lab a few days after they returned from Russia to talk about setting up a party for her daughter. Abby giggled to herself, it was so hard to believe that Akiva had a child, let alone be excited for throwing her a birthday party. Although it was kind of sad to hear how Akiva never had one herself, and was asking Abby for advice on what to get and do. Abby however, was happy to oblige, having mended all her misgivings about Akiva's ruthless nature and her cold persona. Thinking back to had Ziva had been when she first started working at NCIS.

Abby paused in her fluffing looking around at the boxes of party decorations she had managed to get a hold of, Akiva wasn't sure what Hikari would like so she got a little bit of everything. Now all she needed was a place to through the party and they were set.

Akiva stood shaking hands with the men as they left, finally reaching an agreement, on who would pay what and how. Akiva looked at her watch, she needed to get moving, she had another appointment to get to. She nodded her head to Vance and then trotted out of the office, without a second glance to the empty bull pin.

Ziva rolled her head trying to loosen her shoulders, her chest felt tight again, her sternum needed to be shifted and cracked, she wondered if it would ever heal as she gazed out the window. Tony was driving the NCIS truck back to base, it had been a long day and they were now fully loaded with evidence, but it could all wait until Monday, tonight was Friday, and Hikari's birthday and she was bound and determined to have a good time. She was curious though that Akiva had said very little about throwing a party. She just kept telling her over and over that she would take care of it. Her mind wandered back to the address she saw on the papers earlier that morning.

She sighed letting the thought drift into the back of her mind as Tony pulled the truck into the evidence garage. She slipped out of the truck glancing at her watch, Abby should be picking up Hikari by now. Tony and McGee followed her in the elevator taking it a tub of evidence with them.

Hikari squealed and launched herself onto Abby's long legs. "Aunty Abby!"

"Hey Birthday Girl!" Abby laughed and picked Hikari up kissing her on the cheek leaving a nice lipstick stain.

Hikari giggled and wiped at the lipstick only ending up making it worse. Abby chuckled and helped her removed her 'mark' as they headed back to the bull pin. Hikari wiggled and bounced on Abby's hip excited at seeing Ima and Mommy, she wasn't clingy but she knew that they did have dangerous jobs catching the bad guys. As soon as the elevator dinged Abby set her little feet on the ground and she bounded towards the cubicles. Her little feet stopped when she saw that Uncle Nini was making Mommy irritated again, so she decided to sneak around the back way and make her way to Uncle Timmy's desk.

McGee gave Hikari a silent smile and opened his arms, she crawled into his lap quietly then started observing.

"Tony! Give it back!" Ziva yelled as DiNozzo held a file folder over her head, damn her small stature she cursed.

"Not until you enlighten me." Tony smirked and danced out of her grasp yet again.

"Tony if you value your life in any manor I suggest you give it back!" She was this close to jumping onto his desk when a nerf dart hit her in the temple, causing her to pause and look towards McGee. Tony looked as well and was also assaulted with a nerf dart, right between the eyes.

"Kids a good shot." Gibbs said nonchalantly as he came in the back of the bull pin effectively ending their little misadventure. Ziva snatched the file away from Tony placing it on Gibbs desk before walking around to McGee's a playful glare trained on Hikari.

Hikari lifted her chin unafraid, eye set and determined. So much like Akiva…Ziva thought distantly. Hikari watched her mommy closely and let out a small relieved sigh when Ziva opened her arms to pick her up, she lifted easily and put her legs around Ziva's trim waist effectively anchoring herself.

"You ready for your birthday party?" Ziva asked.

"Hai! Keiki ga aru?"

Ziva took a moment to translate before responding in a smile. "Yes, baked it last night after you went to bed."

Hikari smiled and hugged Ziva's neck. "What color?"

" Dark purple, just like you wanted."

"Yay!" Hikari bounced happily causing Ziva to widen her stance.

"Well come on then let's go." Gibbs grabbed his key's from his desk, he knew exactly where the party was, in fact, he had helped Akiva pick it out personally.

"But Gibbs-"

"I know where, come on."

Ziva furrowed her eyebrows as the team, including Abby, grabbed their respective presents and made for the elevator.

The train of cars turned left onto a street that was familiar to them all, Ziva followed behind Gibbs' GT watching with great curiosity as they passed his house going further down the street. She followed him as he turned right then pulled into the driveway next to Akiva's yellow Celebrity Eurosport. Ziva pulled behind Akiva's car in the long driveway and looked up at the house. It was rather large but not overly so, it was brick and grey stone, with an antique appearance, the sun was going down and the front porch light was on illuminating the cherry wood wrap around railing. She got out of the car slowly going to the back and unbuckling Hikari from her carseat. She picked the little girl up her eyes still examining the exterior of the house, the lawn was clean and trimmed, with a small garden in the front. Two rose bushes marking the entrance steps. She looked at the closed buds, noticing their rarity; one was a beautiful hybrid blue while the other was a beautiful deep black with red tips. Gibbs smiled to her and opened the large oak front door the smell of sandalwood and lavender permeating the cool night air.

Ziva's jaw dropped, the house was _gorgeous_. The floor was a deep colored hardwood that wrapped all around, a staircase splitting the entrance hall in half. To the left she could see a hallway with a series of archways that lead to various rooms, while the right opened up into a beautiful sitting room with a pristine white grand piano sitting next to a bay window in the corner, while a rug covered the center of the floor with a wood coffee table sitting on top between a burgundy couch and two matching arm chairs. Ziva walked in slowly going into the sitting room seeing that it extended further into the back of the house, she set Hikari down as she walked in. There was a step that separated the two rooms, the raised portion opened revealing a very modern looking living room, complete with another burgundy couch and a modest flat screen T.V that was anchored over a brick fireplace. The fireplace was winged by two inlaid ceiling tall bookcases, she stepped up examining them closer. The shelves were neat and tidy with books organized by language and size, the upper shelves held old pictures, some she recognized and must have come from her apartment. Her brow furrowed in thought as to how they ended up there; before a set of two very strong arms came around her waist, a warm chest melding against her back. Ziva leaned back instinctively and she felt Akiva's chin rest on her shoulder.

"What is all this?" Her eyes landing on a picture that was centered on the mantel; it was old and burnt around the edges, but it was held in a beautiful sterling silver frame. The picture held a child and a teenager, both looking warily at the camera. Although no smiles were on their faces, they had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. Ziva recognized the picture instantly, she had been about 8 at the time, Akiva must have been around 18 or 19; it was the day before a big mission. Akiva had an AK47 resting against her leg, stock in the sand, her hand casually on the barrel as she leaned into Ziva. Her clothes standard issue Mossad camouflage, while she herself was wearing a deep blue shirt and baggy camouflage cargo pants.

Akiva's mouth ghosted across Ziva's ear and she spoke softly, "Something permanent."

End Epilogue.

AN: Please! Let me know what you think of the characters, I have a lot of deleted scenes, that didn't make it in, and I was wondering about making a follow up snippet, like an post-epilogue. Do you like the characters introduced? Hit me up! Let me know if I should continue writing stories with Akiva.

Also check out my homepage, on my profile, it has a link to pretty photoshopped pictures from the story.~Ruka


	24. Sequel

I have decided to make another story including Akiva and Hikari. A sequel of sorts. Keep an eye out for it. The title, "Growing up Dangerous."

Also, for sneak peaks and previews feel free to favorite Desert Rose II so that I can send you a private message containing your preview. Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews. Hope to have you reading again soon!

Thanks again!

Ruka


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